and other family
by kdip4014
Summary: House gets a new Fellow, turns out they have a shared past. HouseCameron. rating worst case for language. Final chapter up! Not sure when the second story will come to be, but hopefully it's soon. Talk to everyone then!
1. Chapter 1

"Well then, I suppose that settles it." Dr. Lisa Cuddy closes the current meeting of the hospital board and all of the doctors file out, leaving Dr. James Wilson behind.

"So…who's going to break it to him?"

"You're his best friend." Cuddy tries to convince him.

"So?! What does that have to do with anything? You're his boss."

"Compromise. We'll tell him together."

"Deal. How do you think he'll react?"

"About the new doctor, or the fundraiser?"

"Either, both. Regardless of what we break to him first, he's not going to be pleased. Let's tell him about the new doctor in private. Then we'll leave it to him to tell his team."

"Sounds good." By now they have reached the Diagnostics office and see House running a differential with the team. Cuddy knocks on the glass to get House's attention and motions him into his office. House limps over and the trio enters the room. House takes one look at the serious looks on his boss's and best friend's faces and immediately goes to jokes.

"Uh-oh, serious faces. Are Mommy and Daddy getting a divorce?"

"House, this is serious." Wilson starts. He glances to Cuddy, who takes over the story,

"You're getting a new doctor on your Fellowship-"

"And yet I didn't interview any doctors." House interrupts.

"I've gotten one too many complaints about you, House."

"And hiring another doctor will stop the complaints?"

"Hiring this doctor will help."

"What's their specialty?" House questions with trepidation, dreading where this could be going.

"Cardiology." Cuddy takes a long enough pause for House to realize who she's talking about.

"WHAT?! NO!" House shouts loud enough for the three doctors in the other room to turn their heads in shock. House immediately lowers his voice. "Tell me that you're joking."

"Sorry House. We had an opening in Cardiology, she applied right after your last complaint about you. Whenever you don't have a case, she'll be working in Cardiology, but she _will_ be working with you on _every single _case you've got from the instant she starts here." Cuddy leans on the desk, giving House the perfect opportunity to comment on the low cut of her blouse, which he doesn't.

"Is there anything else, or can I get back to my patient?"

"One more thing." Wilson cuts in. "The Diagnostics Department is in charge of this years hospital benefit. The theme has been chosen, you and your team get to organize it."

"What's the theme?"

"Karaoke." Wilson deadpans. House stares at him disbelievingly before turning and hobbling back into the conference room.

"Well," Wilson turns to Cuddy, "That went better than I thought it would."

------------------

"Is everything okay?" Cameron immediately asks when House reenters the room.

"Peachy. Where were we?"

"MRI is clean," Chase resumes speaking, oblivious to what Cameron believes is wrong with House.

"But indicators in the blood work show that he's got a tumor." Foreman cuts in.

"Run another scan." House orders. "Two millimeter segments. Anything abnormal, no matter how small or insignificant, get back to me on." The team starts to get up, when House stops them. "Two things irrelevant to the case. We're getting another Fellow, and the Diagnostic office is in charge of this years hospital fundraiser. It's a Karaoke theme."

"Fun." Foreman responds before he and chase head out to run the scan. Cameron lingers behind the two.

"Are you sure that everything's okay?"

House pauses for a moment before meeting her gaze. "Yeah, everything's fine. Thanks for asking."

Cameron pauses, shocked that a 'thank you' just came out of her bosses mouth without a hint of sarcasm. "You're welcome." She pauses, waiting for a sarcastic comment that doesn't come, then turns and exits the room.

------------

"At last," Chase closes the file after giving it his signature, "case closed." He grabs the tennis ball on the table in front of him and begins playing with it. "Let's hope that the cosmos are kind enough to give us a break after that last one." Cameron pours herself a cup of tea and takes a seat at the table.

"Hello, duckys." House limps in and goes to our himself a cup of coffee, only to find that one is already made, courtesy of Cameron. He is about to return to his office, when he's stopped by Cameron's voice.

"When is the new Fellow starting? You never told us."

"Started here last week, only going to be on loan to us when we've got a case."

"Does the fellow have a name?"

"Yes." House limps into his office without further elaboration, leaving three very confused doctors behind, Cameron especially.

"Did you honestly expect to get a straight answer from him?" Chase questions the immunologist. Cameron doesn't say anything, just gets up and leaves the room, walking briskly toward the one person that she knows will answer her questions.

------------------

Wilson is getting the necessary files in order for the day when there is a knock at the door. Before he can respond, Cameron opens the door and pokes her head in.

"Hey, do you have a minute, Dr. Wilson?"

"Of course. What's going on?"

Cameron comes in and takes a seat in one of the chairs across from Wilson's desk, taking a moment to compose what's she's about to say. "Does House have some sort of history with the new doctor we've got coming in?" She finally asks bluntly.

This time, Wilson is the one to take a moment to compose his thoughts, knowing that this is something that needs to be told by House.

"Yes, and no. Yes, they have some past ties, but no, they don't really have a history."

"I don't get it."

"It's complicated, Cameron. I wish that I could explain more, but this is something that really needs to be told by Greg."

"So the outburst when he was first told…"

"Dr. Reed coming to work here will definitely open some floodgates for House, and he's going to try his damnedest to keep them shut."

"Which means that he's going to be even more of an ass now."

"Yup. And he's going to avoid taking on cases even more so now then he did before, so if you want him to take on a case, make sure that you have a _really_ good argument as to why he should. Now," Wilson shuffles through some of his files, "I hate to kick you out, but I've got an appointment in ten minutes, and I really need to prepare."

"Sure thing. Thank you, Wilson." Just as she's about to leave, Wilson stops her.

"One question for you, Cameron." She turns to face him. "Do you still have feelings for House?" The look on her face answers the question for him. "Never mind, your face said it all. Believe me when I say that you could get a lot of insight into Greg House through this doctor. Enough to make you realize a little more about why he is the way that he is."

Cameron nods her head to acknowledge that she heard him, and turns to leave.


	2. Chapter 2

Two weeks later, Cameron strides out of an exam room with a file in her hand and collides with a young woman coming out of Cuddy's office.

"I am so sorry, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Doctor, but you look like you're in a hurry, so you might want to continue on."

"Thank you." Cameron continues on to the elevator and boards, not noticing the young woman don a lab coat and pick up a patient file after introducing herself to Nurse Brenda.

-------------

"Female, 38 years old, she's six months pregnant and complaining of chest pains." Cameron rushes into House's office, spewing out the facts before she's even stopped. House looks up from his game boy with a bored expression, while Cameron continues on, not noticing that House has resumed his game. "She presents with a normal fever, though she claims to be a bit flushed, and her BP is also within normal range, 123/90. She's had three prior miscarriages and she nearly lost this one also. HOUSE!" Cameron reaches over and yanks the game boy from his hands, holding it out of reach.

"Hey!" House tries to retrieve his game, but Cameron holds it just out of his reach.

"Have you even heard a word that I've been saying?"

"Yeah, 38-year-old female, 6 months pregnant, presenting with chest pains. Sounds like a hypochondriac, now may I please have my game boy back?"

"Well, since you said 'please'…"Cameron turns the game off and puts it into her pocket. She thrusts the case file in his direction. "You can have it back when you go over her file, _really_ go over it, and figure out what's wrong with her." Cameron turns to walk away, but stops halfway to the door and turns to face him, "You've been turning down every case that's come our way for the past two weeks, you can't keep doing that just to avoid working with the new doctor. It's inevitable, House, sooner or later, you're going to have to start saving lives again." She makes it to the door when she's stopped by House's voice.

"Run a CBC, and check her hormone levels: Cortisol, testosterone - free and binding - the works. Call me when you've got the results."

"Thank you." Cameron turns to leave, but stops when she hears a sound from House. "You haven't diagnosed her yet." She leave him with a smile before heading out.


	3. Chapter 3

Early the next morning, Cameron enters the conference room to find Chase and Foreman already seated. The men take note of the scrubs that she's wearing and question her.

"I never left last night, I was too busy running the labs on our new patient."

"And why are we here at this _ungodly_ hour?" Chase complains, heading immediately for the coffee machine and pouring himself a cup.

"House told me to call him when the blood tests came in. He in turn had me page all of you in. Including the new guy. Wonder when he'll get here."

At that moment, the 'new guy' comes in. The first thing that they're all shocked by is that the new 'guy' is actually the new 'girl'. She's wearing a pair of ratty, olive green cargo pants, a black baby tee, and a canvas jacket. Her dark hair is pulled back in a messy ponytail, and she's wearing a pair of aviator sunglasses. She dumps her messenger bag on the table and immediately heads to the coffee machine, downing her first cup without even pausing at it's heat. She pours a second cup and takes a moment to add a single creamer and sugar to the liquid before sitting down to enjoy it. She pushes her sunglasses up on her head and the others take note that her eyes are bloodshot. They are all too shocked to even notice that she's using House's red mug, at least until House enters and goes for a cup of coffee. Not seeing his mug by the machine, he looks around for it, finally noticing it residing in the hands of his new fellow. Without even asking, he goes to retrieve it from her, but as his hand gets near, she grabs his hand and twists it painfully.

"Well," House rubs his hand gingerly once it's been released, "I guess a hangover takes precedence. Though I must admit, this is a first, even for me, to have a duckling show up hungover."

"Ever take care of five drunk bridesmaids and one drunk bride? It's not fun. That's what this is. Believe it or not, I only had one drink at the party last night."

"There was a party and you didn't invite me? I'm hurt." House goes for a paper cup and fixes a cup of coffee the way he likes it, he gets one sip in before the cup is removed from his hand and replaced by his red mug. He looks up in shock to see the cup that he just made being drunk by Dr. Reed.

"As much as you love strippers, Greg, somehow I doubt you'd go for ones that come from Chippendales…On the other hand, there were those rumors of your senior year in college…" She lets the sentence trail off as she finishes her third cup of coffee and retrieves the mug from House and fills up her fourth. "God, why did I agree to be the maid of honor?" She mumbles to herself as she empties the pot and starts another one - super strong, the others notice.

"Because you're a masochist who will do anything for the people that you care about?" House offers. He immediately regrets that when he sees the speculative look enter the young doctors eyes.

"I guess it's in the genes." She goes to her bag and pulls out an envelope, which she hands to House. "By the way, Mom wanted me to give this to you with instructions that you are not to bring Wilson or Cuddy as your date."

"Great. It'll make a great starter for the fireplace. Dr. Elliot Reed, cardiologist meet Drs Robert Chase, intensivist; Eric Foreman, neurologist and Allison Cameron, immunologist. Let's get started. Cameron, what did the tests results show? Dr. Cameron?" Cameron finally recognizes that House is calling her and starts to recite the test results. House doesn't seem to be paying much attention and as Cameron finishes her speech, he gets up and limps off into his office. "Good, great, fine. Dr. Reed, go earn your paycheck, do an EKG, the patient presented with chest pains. Try not to let your hangover affect your bedside manor."

"Bite me," Dr. Reed manages to get in before House closes the door to his office. As Elliot is getting up, the sound of the lock clicking shut is heard from the door to House's office. The three ducklings remain where they originally were, still shocked by what went on. As soon as Reed is out of the room, they all seem to retrieve their sanity.

"Hundred bucks says she's a daughter that he ignored for the majority of her life. Only the lack of a father figure could cause that much resentment toward someone." Foreman is the first to speak up.

"I second that," Chase cuts in. "Just look at the relationship that I had with my Dad, he was gone for fifteen years, and look at our relationship." They look to Cameron, waiting for her two cents.

"I'll take that bet, but I vote against the daughter theory. There's got to be another reason for the animosity between those two."


	4. Chapter 4

AN: This Elliot Reed is not the same as Elliot Reed from Scrubs...I haven't watched that show since 1st season, and I don't know why I thought of that name for this character.

I'm going to need some help on the next story. part two will be the karaoke fundraiser, but I don't know of any good songs that can be sung by various characters. Thanks to taking care of my niece, the only songs that I can think of off the top of my head belong to _High School Musical_, and I really can't picture any of the characters singing _Start of Something New_. Even if it's just song titles and artists, I can find the lyrics, but it's best if they are songs whose lyrics describe relationships of characters (any pairing)

* * *

Cameron stops outside a patient's room, organizing the papers in her hands before entering the room. She is slightly surprised to see Dr. Reed sitting by the patient's bedside performing an echo.

"What are you doing an echo for? Dr. House asked you to do an EKG." Cameron smiles at the patient before returning her attention to Reed

"There were some oddities on the EKG. What are you doing here?"

"House wanted some more specific hormone tests done." She turns her attention to the patient. "How are you doing today?"

"Alright I suppose. Have you heard anything from my husband?"

"He's not here yet?" Cameron sounds shocked.

"He's in the Marines, stationed at Camp Lejuene, in North Carolina. It's probably just taking him awhile to get everything sorted out with the Red Cross."

"Has someone from the Red Cross been in to see you?" Dr. Reed doesn't take her eyes off the echo machine as she poses the question.

"Yes."

"Then he'll be here. Those things can take awhile."

"Oh. I guess I'm a little inexperienced at stuff like that. We've only been married for a few months."

Cameron readies the supplies that she'll need to draw blood. As she's tying the tubing around the patient's upper arm, she glances in the direction of Dr. Reed, taking in all of her features, bit by bit. Her hair is dark, almost black, and it has a bit of a curl to it, similar to her own. Reed glances in her direction, looking at the heart monitor and processing its numbers. In that brief moment, Cameron notices her eyes, not blue, but a bright green, with flecks of gold around the iris. She reaches up to scratch her forehead, and action that Cameron recalled House doing whenever he was frustrated; Reed nibbles on the corner of her bottom lip as she finishes up the echo and puts all the tools back where they belong. She takes the disk with the recording of the echo and places it in her pocket. She makes a notation in the patient's chart and heads out of the room without so much of a backwards glance at the patient of Cameron.

"She doesn't have much of a bedside manner." The patient's voice brings Cameron out of the daze that she was in. Cameron merely smiles tightly at the patient before quickly drawing the blood and leaving the room.

Elliot's POV

_God, does she think that I don't notice her staring at me? I wonder what she's trying to find? Does she think that I might be House's daughter? Is she trying to find similarities between us? Geez, Greg was right…these Fellows of his really do need to get a life. Greg was right about a few things after all. Cameron is cute…I wonder how I can work that? Even if for no other reason than to screw with Greg. Oh well, the patient does come first, and I'm done with the echo, so I'd better get to the lab with it. _I grab the recording of the echo and pop the CD into a case and place it in my pocket. I don't bother acknowledging Dr. Cameron or the patient - whatever her name is - we've got our orders, and I just want to get another cup of coffee. After exiting the room, I stop outside and pull the CD out so that I can label it with the patient number. As I'm capping the pen, I hear the patient comment to Cameron,

"She doesn't have much of a bedside manner."

_You don't know the half of it._ I think. Not wanting to get caught up in a conversation with Dr. Cameron, I quickly head down the hall to the lab.

Chase's POV

_God I'm late! _I rush down the hall to the stairs. _I was supposed to be at the NICU 20 minutes ago. At least my excuse is the truth, House kept me late. I don't understand how someone that is so respected in the medical community can be such an ass. Dr. Reed seems to have some sort of control over him…if any of us had done to House what she did to him this morning…we definitely would no longer be collecting a paycheck from the diagnostics department. Speaking of…_ I stop outside the lab as I see Dr. Reed messing around on a computer, and I recognize the program that she's got open, _that looks like iTunes, and there's her iPod. _Before I can think anything else, she unplugs her iPod as a nurse bumps into me and I note the time, _Christ, 30 minutes!_

Foreman's POV

_Pregnancy interferes with hormones, but not enough to cause cardiac problems, right? I had better did out my endocrinology and cardiology books from med school tonight. Dr Reed might be a cardiologist, but can she really help us? How do we know that we can trust her? House doesn't seem to like her…but then again, House doesn't like anyone… Speak of the devil, there's Dr Reed. Wait…what's that…is she listening to her iPod? And she doesn't even notice me. She must not care too much about her job if she's willing to walk around the hospital not even bothering to hide her mP3 player. Wait a second…that sounds a lot like another doctor we all know and love… I have _got _to find Chase and Cameron!_

Cameron is sitting at the centrifuge, removing the vials of blood to run the tests when Chase comes in with his own blood to run tests on.

"What've you got?" She asks conversationally.

"Two month preemie with a cough, NICU attending has me testing for pneumonia, you?"

"Free testosterone tests for Jenna."

"Jenna?"

"The pregnant woman? Our new patient?" Cameron puts the blood into the necessary machine.

"Right, sorry."

"Mind in the gutter these days?"

"No, I was just running late today. House had me do his clinic hours-"

"What else is new?"

"Which led me to be late for my shift at the NICU. Then I was distracted at the lab, which made me even later."

"What was so distracting at the lab?" Cameron turns to face Chase, but before he can respond, Foreman comes in.

"So, I was walking down the hall to neurology for a consult when I see Dr. Reed walking in the opposite direction. Guess what she was doing?" He's met by two equally blank stares. "In the open, she was listening to her iPod, does that remind you of anyone?"

"I saw her in the lab on my way to the NICU, she was using one of the computers there to download something onto her iPod. Anything on your end, Cameron?" The two men look to the third member of their team expectantly.

"Sorry, but the only thing that I've had is a comment from Jenna about her lack of a bedside manner."

"Definitely sounds like a doctor we all know. She might not look like him, but the mannerisms…" Foreman slowly trails off as he notices the other two look down uncomfortably. He turns around and sees Dr Reed standing at the doorway and has the grace to look apologetic.

Dr Reed doesn't comment on the behavior of the three other fellows, just walks over to the printer as it spews out test results. She glances over the papers before turning and heading out, addressing the other doctors as she does, "If you three are done with your conversation, why don't you head to the conference room so we can let House know about the new results."

"That's another thing," Foreman mentions when Reed is out of earshot, "not now, but earlier, she called House 'Greg' and he didn't comment. If one of us did that, we'd be doing his clinic hours for months."

"The truth will come out eventually, Foreman," Cameron responds, getting up, "until then, we'd better keep our noses in our own business."


	5. Chapter 5

Chase, Foreman and Cameron all walk into the conference room in time to see Reed dot a few _i_s on the new symptoms on the white board. She caps the marker and turns in time to see all of them look away, but they don't move fast enough, she notes the look of worry on their faces, and smirks, remembering stories about how House doesn't let anyone touch his markers. She puts the marker down and takes a seat at the table. House comes in and glances at the board, noticing a few new symptoms that are not written in his handwriting. He turns to yell at the ducklings,

"Alright, how many times do I have to tell you? Who-" Reed's hand shoots up before he can ask who touched his markers. House clamps his mouth shut and turns away from the team, missing all of their shocked expressions. Before anymore comments can be made, three pagers go off in the room and the other doctors all get up, spewing excuses as they leave.

"NICU needs me." Chase nearly trips on his way out.

"Neuro needs a consult," Foreman stops to help Chase regain his balance.

"I have to do my clinic hours," Cameron gets up and leaves gracefully, but not before shooting a sympathetic glance toward Reed.

Once the room has emptied out, House starts erasing the notes the Elliot wrote and rewriting them himself. The pair sits in silence for a minute before Elliot swings to face him.

"Your other fellows seem to think that I'm your daughter."

"What's the pool up to?" The casual tone in House's voice would have made anyone think that they were discussing the weather.

"No clue, but I think that Dr. Cameron is the only one of them voting against the 'daughter' theory. You knew that this would happen?"

"Yeah, those three couldn't keep their noses out of anyone's business if their lives depended on it."

"I guess that you're rubbing off on them." Elliot stands and moves to leave, stopping and turning at the door. "You were right about one thing, Greg…she is cute."

Elliot hangs around just long enough to see the blush creeping up House's neck before turning and leaving the room.

* * *

Elliot is sitting at a computer in the lab, listening to something on her iPod, when the computer next to her beeps and the printer spits out a piece of paper. Glancing over it, she reaches for her pager, and types a page into it and sends it to the other members of the team.

* * *

All the others are waiting in the room when Reed comes in with a sheet of paper.

"Hormone levels are off the charts."

"Well, she is pregnant. Isn't that supposed to happen?" House sarcastically replies to her.

"Estrogen levels would be off the charts, yes, but not testosterone, not even if she was carrying six boys. And it's not just her total testosterone, her free testosterone is astronomical as well."

"Alright, so what does that tell us?" House gets up to write the new symptoms on the board.

"Something is wrong with her endocrine system." Cameron supplies. House turns and gives her a look that simply states _'duh'_, which she ignores.

"Maybe we should call in an endocrinologist. They could tell us so much more much faster than any of us could research for." Reed supplies, and House quickly starts laughing a bit.

"Hehe, nice try Reed, but we're doing this ourselves. You four start researching all causes for elevated hormone levels. I'm going to lunch." House caps his markers and limps out of the room.

Elliot leans across the table and sees House get into one of the elevators. She then closes the book that Chase opened up and pulls the phone across the table toward her. She dials a number before putting it on speaker phone.

"Dr. Grant."

"Hey, it's me." Reed takes over. "I need a consult."

"Shoot."

"Female, 38 years old, six months pregnant. Presented with chest pains and a normal temperature, but she says that a 'normal' temp for her is 96.8, which makes her 98.9 elevated; BP is 123/90, but she says that it's never gone above 98/60. Her testosterone - free and binding - are off the charts."

"Has she had any prior miscarriages?"

"Three," Cameron supplies, "and she almost lost this one at 17 weeks."

"Who is that?"

"Allison Cameron, immunologist."

There is silence on the other end for a moment before Dr. Grant responds, "Is she as cute as Greg says she is, Ellie?"

"Yeah. Any theories?"

"On your patient, or on why Greg hasn't asked Dr. Cameron out yet?"

"Let's stick with the patient for the moment."

"Sounds like PCOD. Run a scan of her abdomen in 1mm segments. Sometimes the cysts can hide, and even then, you might have to do an ovarian biopsy."

"Anything else?"

"She presented with chest pains, right? What came of that?"

"It sounds like she's got a murmur in her mitral valve. I've been listening to her echo nonstop," Foreman and Chase share looks as they realize what she's been listening to on her iPod, before returning their attention to the conversation. "But it doesn't sound like anything. Jake's heart sounded worse after returning form London two years ago."

"Alright. Let me know what comes of the scan. I've got a patient waiting."

"Alright. Bye." Elliot hangs up the phone and pulls her papers tighter before turning and facing the others. She finds the trio sharing matching shocked looks, none more shocked than Cameron's.

After a moments silence, Cameron hesitantly speaks up. "House talks about me?"

"Yeah," Elliot scoffs. "The man's been in love with you since you walked into his office for your interview." She gets up and heads out to schedule the scan.

* * *

Alright...now for a moment of explanations...women do have minut amounts of testosterone in their bodies, just like men have small amounts of estrogen in theirs. Free testosterone is just that: pure testosterone; total testosterone is free testosterone that binds to other protiens and hormones in the body. Hormones are controlled by the endocrine system: pituitary glands and such (think the S1 episode with the overweight 10-year-old that had the heart attack and weight issues due to a tumor on her pituitary gland), and hormones control _everything_ in the human body.

PCOD is known as Polycystic ovarian disease, and - as the name implies - it causes multiple cysts to form on the ovaries and other reproductive organs. It's one of those diseases that really has no definitive diagnosis, because there are so many symptoms of PCOD that can be caused by and explained by other things.

98/60 BP is just a step above dead, but it is possible (take it from someone who deals with it every time she goes to the doctor...I've never had my BP taken only once).

Thanks for all the reviews, Reed's secret will be revealed soon. I think it's a conceivable situation, let me know what you think...


	6. Chapter 6

In Radiology, Elliot enters the observation room after a nurse helps her to get Jenna into the machine. Two minutes into the procedure, Cameron comes in and takes a seat.

"So, what's the pool up to?" Elliot suddenly speaks up, startling Cameron.

"What?"

"On the daughter theory. What's the pool up to?"

"No pool, it's just among Foreman, Chase and I." Elliot turns to her, the question still obvious in her eyes. "Foreman started it, $100 buy in."

"Hmmm." Elliot is silent for a moment, studying the images on the screens in front of her. "You're right."

"About what?"

"He's not my father." Elliot turns to face her.

Cameron doesn't bother hiding the shock at how Elliot knew what side she voted for. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Take advantage of Foreman and Chase's ignorance, use your winnings to buy me dinner, and I'll tell you exactly what Greg told me about you."

"You're on." The two women share a smile, which Elliot quickly loses as she notices something on the screen.

"What's that?" She points to a grey area on the patient's left ovary. "Get Wilson, see if he has time for a biopsy."

Cameron rushes out while Elliot finishes the scan before calling a nurse in to return the patient to her room.

Wilson and Cameron meet up with Reed outside Radiology. The nurse wheels Jenna past the trio, stopping when Jenna reaches out and catches Reed's sleeve.

"Is something wrong, Dr. Reed? You all look so serious. Did something happen to the baby?"

"Don't worry, Jenna. The procedure was textbook and the scan didn't harm the baby." Jenna seems satisfied and releases Reed's sleeve, allowing the nurse to wheel her away. Once she's in the elevator, Elliot turns to Wilson.

"She has several masses on and within her left ovary." She holds the scan up for him to see.

"I can do a biopsy. But we'll probably have to remove the entire ovary. Cameron, get a neonatal specialist to monitor the surgery." Cameron rushes off and as soon as the elevator doors shut, Wilson turns to Elliot. "Now, I know that you're good, but not even you would think to do a scan in 1 mm segments. She had to have been in there forever."

"About 20 minutes. And it wasn't my idea."

"Surely it wasn't House's. Not even he would suggest that." Elliot shakes her head negative, which leads Wilson to deduce who suggested it. "Does House know that you called her?"

"Probably, even though I didn't actually tell him I was." The elevator arrives and the pair gets in, Wilson hitting the number for their floor.

"Just pray that she doesn't show up to help. You know what kind of relationship they have."

"Yeah, I know, but I doubt that she'd show up for the case."

The elevator arrives at their floor and the doors open to find their favorite cane-wielding diagnostician waiting there. House zeros in on the younger of the two doctors.

"You called Jack, didn't you." It wasn't a question.

"Well, let's see," Elliot pushes past House, who eventually follows. "Either we do what you suggested, and we'd still be sitting around trying to figure out what could be wrong and what tests to run, or we could call Jack and get a scan. Thus allowing us to find a problem, prep her for surgery to remove a series of masses we found growing on and in her ovary. The former of which would have put her life in continued danger, or the latter, which is about to give us another piece of the puzzle, putting us one step closer to diagnosing her, and one step closer to getting me out of your hair."

Elliot and House have a stare down of sorts outside the conference room while the other doctors look on apprehensively. Finally House breaks into a grin and gives Elliot a pat on the back.

"Good job, Dr. Reed."

"Thank you, Dr. House." Elliot returns with the same false sincerity that sounds real to the others.

"You're welcome." House notices the other ducklings standing by. "You," House points to Chase, "assist the surgery, and you," House points to Cameron, "be on standby to figure out what it is." The team remains where they are, still shocked over the interaction between their boss and the new young doctor. "Well? Surgery starts in five minutes, better get down there." Cameron and Chase gather their things and leave. House turns to Foreman. "Don't you have clinic hours to complete?" Foreman wisely leaves, not saying anything.

Once the room is cleared of all doctors but Reed, House and Wilson, House turns to Elliot, "Please tell me that Jack won't be joining us for this case."

"I can't do that, but I can tell you that she'll be here tomorrow afternoon."

"Why?"

"Claire's wedding is Saturday, rehearsal dinner is Friday? Ring any bells?"

"Right, it's not every day that you have a fellow show up on her first day hung over."

"I was not hung over. I shoed up one hour and six drinks behind, had one drink, and spent the rest of the night taking care of the rest of the wedding party. And I'm going to stop now. I'll see you later Greg." She leaves and Wilson turns to House.

"Jack will get to see both Ellie and Claire this weekend, you know she'll stop by to see you, too."

"I know, but hopefully this case will be over by then."

"You going to the wedding?"

"Haven't decided. I need to think." House leaves the office and heads toward the stairs heading to the roof.

* * *

Just as Cameron and Chase are about to head into surgery, Foreman walks up.

"It's not too late to change your mind on the daughter thing."

Cameron smiles at Foreman and Chase, and is met by knowing grins - they're positive that they're right. "Not going to change, but I'll double up."

"What?" Chase stares at her disbelievingly.

"Double or nothing. She's not his daughter." Cameron holds out her hand to shake. Chase is the first to take it.

"Deal." They release and Cameron holds her hand out to Foreman, who hesitates for just a moment before accepting.

"Deal. Are you prepared to shell out $200 a piece to us?"

"Are you?" Cameron challenges. She smirks at the two of them before securing her mask and going into the OR.

* * *

I know that these are fairly short chapters, but hopefully I'll be able to finish the bulk of the story (with longer chapters) in the next few days. Thanks for all the reviews, it's great to get such feedback, especially for my first fanfic.


	7. Chapter 7

Three hours later, Cameron finds House on the roof.

"It's a cyst, rather several. Surgeons removed the ovary. It looks like she'll be able to carry the baby to term."

"Good." House keep his eyes on the horizon. Cameron hesitates before turning to leave. She's stopped by House's voice. "Are you doing anything this weekend?"

Cameron turns, "What part of the weekend?"

"Friday evening through Saturday evening."

"No, why?"

"Elliot's sister is getting married. I was wondering if you'd be my date." He finally turns to face her and is met by a look of shock, though she manages to hide it quickly and well. She slowly makes her way to stand by his side. Shoving her hands in her pockets, she leans against the wall of the roof.

"Before I accept or deny, I think I have a right to know…what's your relationship with Dr. Reed?"

"Does this 'right' stem from wanting to win the bet about whether or not she's my daughter?" He glances in her direction and is met by a smiling face, she's not surprised that he knows.

"No. I know that you're not her father."

"How do you now that?"

"She told me."

"And what do you get in return?"

"Besides the $200 a piece from Chase and Foreman? Knowledge of what you said about me to her."

"Oh." House and Cameron stand in silence for a moment before House recalls Cameron's original question. "Niece."

"What?" Cameron is startled by the disruption.

"Elliot is my niece."

"You told me that you were an only child."

"I told you that my mom and dad only had one child. Elliot's mom is my half sister.

"Okay. Explain."

"Dad was mom's high school sweetheart. He went off to basic training, she went off to college. There she met a guy that wouldn't take no for an answer. Eventually he raped her. Dad never had a problem raising her as a House. They were engaged at the time, so people always assumed that she was conceived during that time, so no one questioned when they moved up their wedding date. Elliot is a House also, she was given that name when she was born."

"What about her father?"

"Car accident. They were on their way back home from the airport after their honeymoon. Jack didn't even know that she was pregnant."

"Jack?"

"Jacqueline. My sister. She always was a bit of a tomboy, thus preferring Jack to Jacqueline."

"Right. What does she do?"

"She's an endocrinologist."

"Would she be the Dr. Grant that Dr. Reed called this morning?"

"Yeah. So," House turns to face her, "Be my date this weekend?"

"Can't have you showing up alone can we? What's the dress code?"

"Semi-formal rehearsal dinner. The wedding and reception are military formal. Black tie for us civilians."

Cameron thinks for a moment, mentally running through her wardrobe before finally speaking, "Can I have the rest of the day off so I can find something for Saturday?"

"Does this mean you'll be my date?"

"Yes."

"Then go. But what will Chase think?"

Cameron humors him with a patronizing glance. "Chase and I are not a couple. We came up with the arrangement that we have because I knew that I wouldn't fall in love with him. He's not my type. It's a settle for 'Mr. Right now' while waiting for 'Mr. Right' kind of arrangement." Cameron pushes herself off the wall, "I have some shopping to do." She stops at the door leading to the building and turns, "You coming?"

"In a few minutes, I'll see you later."

"Alright, bye." She leaves House staring after her with a thoughtful expression.

* * *

Wilson stops by house's office that night on his way out. He sees that House is sitting at his desk staring at the wall separating his office and the conference room, not playing with anything.

"Hey. You going home tonight?"

"Yeah, I was just thinking." House rubs his chin in thought, returning his gaze to the glass wall, where he's written down all of Jenna's symptoms, along with a few others.

"Anything in particular?" Wilson absently asks while reading down the list on the wall.

"There is no way that Jenna's only problem was PCOD. Ovarian cysts make it difficult to conceive, not difficult to carry to term. There's something else that caused those miscarriages."

"Well," Wilson takes a seat across from House, "her hormone levels are returning to normal, and her OB says she's never seen a healthier baby. So unless she comes back with new symptoms or complaints, she's not your problem anymore."

"Something caused the PCOD."

"Something that is now dormant. So until it becomes active, it's not this department's concern." Wilson falls silent, noticing that the wheels are still turning in House's head. "You're not going to leave this alone, are you?"

"What about her chest pains?"

"Testosterone can aggravate the heart muscle…it's why more men suffer from heart attacks then women. She had an elevated testosterone level…"

"Yeah." House looks aimlessly around for his cane before realizing that it was leaning against his desk. "No use worrying about it tonight." He grabs up his cane and moves to leave when he's stopped by Wilson.

"You just got a patient's name right."

"So?"

"Without prompting." Wilson stares at him. "Elliot's getting to you. Adding her to your department really was a good idea."

"Please," House scoffs at his best friend. "It's been less than a week. I doubt she's rubbing off on me already."

"And you just decided not to worry about a case."

"Like you said, case solved. Not our problem anymore."

"You've never left a case alone until the whole thing was solved to your liking." By now they have reached and boarded the elevator.

"Do you know how many causes there are for PCOD?"

"Hundreds."

"Why bother researching them when I can hand the case over to Jack tomorrow and get her opinion?"

"Good point." They reach the parking lot and go their separate ways. House jumps on his bike and speeds off.


	8. Chapter 8

"Good morning everyone." Elliot breezes into the conference room and pours herself a cup of coffee - using House's red mug.

"Good morning, Dr. Reed." Cameron returns, "What are you doing here?"

"Your coffee is so much better than the stuff in the cardiology lounge. And I've got a follow-up with Jenna. I've got to sign off that it's okay for her to leave."

"Anything else?" Elliot looks up and returns the mischievous grin that Cameron is throwing her way.

"We can take care of that too, Dr. Cameron."

"Take care of what?" Chase asks as he and Foreman enter the conference room. "Good morning Dr. Reed."

"Good morning, Dr. Chase. Take care of a bet regarding my paternity." She sits down and innocently takes a sip of coffee while Foreman and Chase choke on theirs and fidget in place, embarrassed.

"Look," Foreman finally speaks up, "We make bets on everything in this office. Usually House is the instigator-"

"But considering that this was about him, you thought it'd be best to leave him out of it, right? Relax, Foreman, I'm not going to get mad. Unless you refuse to pay up."

"Excuse me?" The two men respond simultaneously. They allowed themselves to relax when she said that she wouldn't get angry, but stiffened again at her last comment.

"I understand that the two of you were against Dr. Cameron the whole time. Seems that she was the only one that didn't question House's fidelity, and your daughter theory. Even I know that Greg always wears a condom - and don't ask me how I know - could you imagine him fathering a child? Eewww." Elliot shudders slightly before resuming her professional and informative tone. "Anyways, you both owe Dr. Cameron." She quietly sips her coffee while Cameron sits by staring at the two men smugly, with her hand out, palm up in a 'pay me' gesture. The two men grudgingly hand over $200 to her, just as House enters.

"Damn, I missed the services. Can I take advantage of them later, Cameron?" He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

"It was just the payoff for the paternity bet."

"Right." He looks to Elliot, "Be gentle on me Ellie."

"Sure thing, Greg." They share a smile as Cameron hands him a paper cup of coffee. House stares at the cup in disdain before noticing that Elliot is drinking out of his again. He remains silent and heads into his office.

"That's one thing," Chase speaks up. "You two might banter, but he'll never yell at you."

"Has he ever yelled at you? Not continuously insulted, but yelled?"

"Once or twice."

"When you weren't being a first class moron?"

"Fine, he never continuously insults you."

"Because he knows that my mom can kick his ass. As could I…and my husband…and my sister…and her fiancee."

"It's not too difficult to beat up a cripple."

"Even when he wasn't a cripple it was pretty easy." Four heads swivel around to face the voice that came from the doorway. There stands a woman that looks to be around House's age, though maybe a bit older. Elliot gets up and envelopes the woman in a hug.

"Hey, I thought you weren't getting in until this afternoon."

"I finished everything up early. I thought I'd come early and see how it went with your pregnant woman."

"It went well. She had a grouping of cysts on her left ovary."

"PCOD?"

"Yup. The ovary was removed and it looks like all will go well for her." Before any more can be said, House comes barreling into the room.

"Reed! You'd better be finished with my mug! Paper cups suck!" House's tirade is interrupted when he sees the woman standing by Elliot.

"Hey squirt." The woman envelopes House in a hug matching the one she received from Elliot, which House warmly returns, much to everyone's shock. The others stand by, dumbstruck, that House would ever openly greet someone so warmly.

"I thought you said she wasn't going to be getting here until this afternoon." House directs at Elliot.

"Everybody lies."

The woman turns to face the others in the room, but remains situated under House's left arm, "Hi, I'm Jack Grant." She greets everyone, gazing over the group, before returning quickly to Cameron, who becomes uncomfortable under Jack's scrutiny. Jack looks to her daughter with the question in her eyes. After several minutes of silent conversation involving lots of raised eyebrows from Jack and short, quick nods from Elliot, Jack looks up at House with a sly smile. Interpreting it as he wants to, he pushes her away, causing Jack to break out laughing. Elliot also cracks a smile while the ducklings stand by confused. Jack finally composes herself enough to shake hands with the team and introduce herself personally.

"Would you be the Dr. Grant that Dr. Reed spoke to yesterday morning?" Chase questions when it gets to be his turn.

"That's be me."

"Then thank you, for your assistance."

"You're welcome." She moves onto the final member: Cameron. After finishing the handshake, Jack continues to hold her hand, "Tell me, Dr. Cameron, I believe I can ask you this and receive a straight answer given all the stories that I've heard about you over the years….Have my eldest daughter and baby brother been behaving?"

"Define 'behave'?" Cameron innocently asks, while Chase and Foreman stand by, astonished at the news of the relationship between the three doctors standing in front of them. After a moment, they realize that Cameron is taking all of it in stride, not even batting an eye.

Jack glances over at House, "Am I gonna have to sic Mom on you?"

"Please, like she'll do anything. I've got that woman wrapped around my little finger." House replies with confidence.

"Yet I'm the one that's given her grandkids…yeah, I wonder which kid she'll side with."

"Speaking from experience, House," Cameron supplies, "When I go home, my younger sister and I get the third degree long before our other siblings do, and that's because they've given my parents grandkids."

"One of us will wind up hurting the other before this weekend is over, you do realize that?" House directs toward his sister, who merely smiles and nods her head cheerily.

* * *

Okay, so this is the final chapter that I had a filled in outline for, but as I said before, I've got a lot of time off from work this week, so I should be updating a lot. Then again, it's usually so slow at work, that that's when I sit down and work on this fic, so it could go either way. It'll probably go more towards completing it, then not. I think there will be one more chapter before I do the one where Elliot tells Cameron all about what House said about her, and I'm still deciding how much of the wedding weekend to put in this fic...so much depends on how much I want to write, and how long the muses might strike. Give me some ideas of wedding stories, horror, humor or otherwise (remember, this will give Cameron an insight into the side of Greg House that even Wilson doesn't know everything about.) I've got some ideas - going to Italian weddings is like a cross between _My Big Fat Greek Wedding_ and the _Meet the Parents/Fockers_ movies, and I can do the bride freak-out/reassuring attendant thing pretty well, I just went through that, and I get to go through it again in a few weeks.

Anyways, getting off track here...let me know what you think.


	9. Chapter 9

Alright, so I wanted to get something in today, and I did promise one more chapter before the one where Cameron finds out about House. This introduces a bit of Elliot and House's relationship, as well as a bit of Cameron's family. Just a warning...I write what I know about, and I know about the military. I'm retired military, and my fiance is active, as is my brother (in fact...he's due to ship out in a few weeks, so please keep him in your prayers). I'm working all weekend, so I might or might not get alot done, but I'm 99 percent sure I know how the rest of the story will go, so I'll get a good bit done.

* * *

Wilson is standing on the roof, looking out over the Princeton skyline, when he hears the door open behind him. He ignores the footsteps, though he visibly relaxes when he recognizes that the person approaching isn't House. 

"Judging by all the reactions on the faces of his Fellows," Jack leans against the wall, "I take it he hasn't changed much."

Wilson looks up and stares into her eyes…the same as House's, yet different as well. They both share the intense blue color, but Jack are warmer - though Wilson knows that they can go colder than her brother's at the drop of a hat. At this moment, there is a warmth and lightness to them that he has once seen grace House's expression; though her lips remain in a flat line, her eyes are dancing with laughter. Wilson wonders - not for the first time - how she and House can possibly be related.

"Yu mean is he still an arrogant son of a bitch that enjoys harassing those around him and finding and pushing every one's buttons? Yeah, he's still the same."

"There is something different about him, though. Any ideas?"

"Elliot." He glances to Jack and elaborates, "She's warmed him up a bit."

"Though he'll deny it to his dying breath."

"This is Greg House that we're talking about." The two doctors share a smile. "Adding her to the hospital staff was a good idea. What made you suggest she apply?"

Jack looks at him out of the corner of her eye, surprised, "What makes you think that I suggested it?"

"Give me a break, Jack," the female doctor turns and stares out at the skyline, "she had one of the most promising careers that a doctor could hope for. She's not even thirty, graduated number one from Columbia for undergrad and med school - when she was 22... even House was just applying med school at that age. She was well on her way to becoming head of cardio-thoracic…medical community grapevine has it that she was the selected front runner for that position within two years. And we both know that only one person can change her mind when she's dead set on something."

"I didn't suggest it." Jack keeps her eyes on the skyline, though she tries to hide it, Wilson can hear the slight tremor in her voice. "But she did ask me to try and convince her otherwise."

"Why?"

"I have no idea." Jack finally faces Wilson, and he quickly retrieves a Kleenex when he sees that her eyes are filled with unshed tears. "That's why I didn't try and convince her otherwise. There are two people in this world that Ellie will tell everything to. Maybe not at the same time, but eventually both will know. And right now…I have no idea why she would choose to give up a career path like the one that she was on, in order to come here…unless Greg was the reason. Nine times out of ten, she'll come to me first, but that other 10 percent, she goes to Greg, and it's the big stuff…so big that it could take her months to work up the courage to tell him even. Something is bothering my little girl, James…and it scares the crap out of me that she won't tell me what it is."

Wilson embraces her when she breaks down and starts crying, not saying anything, just holding her while rubbing his hand up and down her back, trying to sooth her.

* * *

At that same time, Elliot finally tracks Cameron down in the Immunology lab. She walks in and takes a seat on a stool next to her, waiting until Cameron is done with the current gel that she's running. Eventually, Cameron starts up the conversation, never taking her eyes off her work while talking. 

"So that was your mom."

"Yup."

"She doesn't seem like much of a House."

"Greg…tends to hold onto the past…use events to fuel his cynical attitude. You've seen what he's like when his past comes to him. Mom…she has more of a 'keep looking forward' mentality. You know…you can't change the past, so why bother wishing that you could."

"What was that 'conversation' the two of you had in the conference room?" Cameron looks up just long enough to put air quotes around 'conversation' before returning her gaze to the microscope in front of her.

"Pretty much Mom asking if you were _really_ the Dr. Cameron that Greg always spoke about."

"And why did House shove her off?"

"Best guess…House probably interpreted Mom's grin to mean something along the lines of you being too gorgeous for him."

The pen that Cameron is holding stops moving for a couple heartbeats while she processes what Elliot just said. She swallows deeply in an attempt to control her racing heart, but doesn't control it in time to stop the blush rising in her cheeks.

"Is that what you and your mom think about me?"

"Honestly…the only thing that we've had for the past three years are stories form Greg. Some…some you could tell were exaggerations. Others…well, others shocked us. Because you could really hear in his voice that he cared about you. Anybody that can put up with Greg House through the stuff that we've heard from Lisa over the past three years is definitely a beautiful person - inside and out - even Greg can see that. So," she fidgets slightly on her stool. "Do you jog?"

Cameron looks up at the abrupt change of subject and stares at the younger doctor before slowly nodding. "Yes."

"I didn't get my run in this morning. Do you plan on staring at that same gel all night, even though you've clearly figured out what's wrong with the sample, or would you like to hear more about what Greg has said about you? I know the deal was over dinner… but how about over a run instead? That way you'll at least be prepared for this weekend."

"This weekend?" Cameron states, confused.

"Yeah, for the wedding and all that comes with it."

"How do you do that?" Cameron gives Elliot her full attention. "Foreman, Chase and I were the only ones that knew about the bet, yet you managed to find out, and figure out how we all voted, and now you know about my being House's date to the wedding. Why medicine? Why not the CIA?"

Elliot stops to think for a moment, "Ummm, Greg told me that you guys make bets on everything…and what we've heard about you helped me realize what side you'd vote for. Chase and Foreman feel for him emotions that would cloud any rational thought - such as realizing that in order for him to be my father, I'd have been conceived when he was 15 - whereas you simply believe in the good in him. Plus I had stopped just outside the conference room to find a pen and I heard the three of you make that bet. I never would have taken Foreman to be so cynical.

"As for the wedding…I was just referring to the fact that the entire House and Danner - Greg's Mom - families would most likely be in and out of this hospital tomorrow, given that the maid of honor and the uncle of the bride work here, which means that the mother of the bride would always be here as well. I had no clue that Greg had asked you to be his date…but it doesn't surprise me. Meet the family…sure sign that he's in love with you. Jason - my husband - and I dated for two months before I met his family, he proposed a week later, after he had met Greg and stated his intentions. If he can deal with him…just like if you can deal with _them_, then it's meant to be." She gets up and heads out, stopping and turning at the door, "You coming?"

"I don't have any running gear."

"Do you know where Six Mile Run State Park is?"

"Yeah."

"Meet me there in an hour? Say by the statue at the East entrance?"

"Sounds good." Elliot leaves Cameron sitting there absorbing what she's been told about House.

* * *

Elliot is leaning up against the base of the statue stretching her legs when Cameron appears behind her. 

"How long is the park open?" Cameron asks while kneeling down to tie her car key into the laces of her running shoe.

"Five years ago? Dawn to dark. It's probably still the same, which means that we've got a few hours. Ready?"

Cameron quickly stretches out her arms and upper body. "Ready, but I tend to go pretty slow."

"Slow, like 10 minute mile, slow?"

"No, maybe 8 minute mile…unless you go 10 minute, then I can slow down."

"I run with my husband, and he can get a 300 on his PFT." The two women start their run.

"What branch is he in? I noticed that you seem to have some knowledge on the Red Cross and the military."

"He's a Marine, First Lieutenant."

"Where is he right now?"

"USS Coral Sea. He flies CH-46Es."

"Cobra attack chopper. Very cool."

"You seem to know a good deal about the military as well."

"Two siblings are in the military."

"Branch, rank and MOS." Elliot demands.

"Alex is a Marine Major, stationed at the Pearl JAG office. Angela is a Navy Lieutenant, trauma surgeon. She's stationed aboard the USS Kitty Hawk, attached to a Marine unit, dealing with a new wave of wounded Marines."

"So you've got one sibling trained to take lives, but he's a lawyer, one trained to save lives, but still in the military, therefore she's also trained to kill - even if she is a noncombatant - and then there's you. How do your parents deal?"

Cameron laughs before answering. "Not sure. We used to joke around that the three of us defined our parents, and we were the perfect child of them. Dad was in the Army…he flew Blackhawks, Mom was a house wife with a nursing degree. We joked that you'd think Alex or I were adopted until you met Angela…Alex is the carbon copy of our Dad, I'm a carbon copy of Mom…just a little taller. Angela has Mom's features, but Dad's coloring."

"So you look at her, and see you and Alex?"

"Yup."

"Any other siblings?"

"Adam and Ashley."

"All A's? What do they do?"

"They're still in school. Ashley graduates from Julliard, dance next spring; Adam is a science major at CU-Boulder, Geology and Environmental studies. But this isn't supposed to be about me…this is supposed to be about House…remember?"

* * *

Definitions: 

PFT: Physical Fitness Test. There are three sections: Run, crunches and pull-ups (For women, a flexed arm-hang). A 300 is a perfect score: 100 crunches in 2 minutes, 20 pull-ups (70 seconds hanging), and a 17:59 3-mile run (20:59 for females). Basically you're superman if you can get all that in.

MOS: Military Occupational Specialty: Job within the military.

JAG: Judge Advocate General, lawyers

First Lt is the second officer rank in the Marines; Major is the fourth officer rank; Navy Lt is the third officer rank. So in order of rank: Elliot's husband has to salute both Angela and Alex, but Angela only has to salute Alex.

If there is an emergency, there are two ways to inform a person in the military: Call them directly, or contact the Red Cross. In order for a military man/woman to get emergency leave, they must have the Red Cross contact a Chaplain (military ministry) and together they have to determine that it merits emergency leave. It's really not that difficult, but it does take some time, and a lot is dependant on your job...it's harder to get in touch with the infantry in the field than it is to get in touch with a pilot safe on an airbase.

Noncombatants: As the name says, they can not willingly partake in any combat venture, nor are they allowed to carry a weapon. Medical personel may, but only to defend their patient on the battlefield. Usually the Navy docs have a Marine assigned as their 'buddy' in combat (because every Marine is a rifleman).

Any other questions...email me and ask away. I'll try and get the next update is as soon as I can.


	10. Chapter 10

I've had tons of support for this story, and I want to say thanks to all. Someone commented that I seem to know what I'm talking about. Wheter that person means medical or military information, let me clarify. I said at the start of the last chapter that I write what I know. I know the mlitary because I'm immersed in it, both with family and my prior experiences, and I know the medical, because I also suffered from PCOD. Fortuantly for me, it was caught before I could suffer from any miscarriages. Though I did spend a year in and out of a dozen doctors offices before it was even considered. Things work out as they're meant to though, so I don't complain. I hope that you all enjoy this chapter.

* * *

"Very well, what do you want to know?"

"Why didn't House want to work with you? I know he thinks that he's got the perfect team with Chase, Foreman and I, but it's not like you've got the same specialty as any of us. And if it weren't for you, then we'd still be flipping through medical texts searching for causes for high testosterone levels."

"He's my uncle."

"Usually seeing family is a reason _to _do something."

"You don't get it." The two women run in silence while Elliot composes her thoughts. "I'm willing to bet that you don't act the same way around your family as you do around the hospital, right?"

"Yeah, at home I tend to let loose a little more. And I know that's hard to believe, but when you've got a sailor and a Marine under one roof, things get interesting."

"Believe me, I know. You three know House, the mean, conniving, arrogant son of a bitch. My mom might seem the exact opposite, and the genes do make it so. I guess that's something that we know Greg got from gramps. But Mom? She can be just as mean, conniving and arrogant as Greg. Dig up some high school algebra… two negatives do make a positive. She's able to get him to do things that no one else can, because he's got a soft spot for her. You know that Greg is walking Claire down the aisle on Saturday, not her father? Mom asked him to. Dad broke his leg six weeks ago, I guess a cane doesn't look quite as bad as a full leg cast and crutches.

"And I can get Greg to be the same way. Greg didn't want me working for him, because he didn't want all of you to see that side of him and potentially use it against him. You've noticed changes in his behavior this past week. Whether it's something as simple as using his markers-"

"Or using his coffee mug," Cameron cuts in, "Or the constant banter. Any of us try the stuff that you've done, we'd be looking for a job."

"No, you wouldn't. He might harass you all, but he respects you. And he's noticed what kind of doctors you're all shaping up to be. You especially. Naïve used to come up a lot when you first started working with him. A 'teddy bear made by grandma'? I believe was what he said."

"Hand made."

"Excuse me?"

"A teddy bear _hand-made_ by grandma, was how he once described me."

"Right. Insults are what Greg does best, but with you, it tears him up every time he makes one in your direction."

"Really?" Cameron wryly questions.

"Should we start at the beginning? You're more than just a 'pretty piece of lobby art' Greg takes the truth, and just adds a necessary tone, so it'll sound like an insult."

"So when House said that I was hired for my looks…?"

"That's a compliment, Cameron. When I said he'd been in love with you from the moment you stepped into his office for your interview, I wasn't joking. Have you ever been in love? Head over heels, heart racing, palm sweats, nervous laughter, can't stop thinking about them love?"

"I was married."

"That's a topic for another conversation. Answer the question."

"Yes, I have."

"That's how Greg described how he felt when you left. All he remembered from your interview was you introducing yourself, and then you shaking his hand when her offered you the job. He said that…it was like a swarm of bees was inside his head when you were talking. All that he could focus on was your smile. Time literally slowed down when you walked into his office and introduced yourself. And when you shook his hand, he said it felt like electricity was literally coursing between you two. When you left, all he could smell was lavender, and he was constantly drying his hands on his trousers, and he couldn't for the life of him, remember stuff he learned in high school anatomy.

"I met Stacy, once. It was right after they started dating, and I was here for a long weekend, because my parents were on a cruise, and I _really_ didn't want to spend the weekend at the dorm. I was 19, and she treated me like I was 12. She was perfect for Greg, because she was just like him, cold, callous, arrogant, and she didn't hesitate to say what she was thinking, regardless of how it would affect that person. But because she was so perfect for him, she was also so wrong for him. Greg…he might seem callous and arrogant, but he thinks over every single thing that he wants to say before he says it, and even if he knows that it will hurt them, he still won't say it unless he knows that he can say something later to make that person feel better."

"So when he said that he didn't like me?"

"What is that thing that Greg always says… Oh yeah: 'everybody lies'. It sucks to hear, but you're an employee of his. Despite how he might feel about other office ethics, he's not about to cross that particular line without knowing that the outcome is worth the risk. And what scares him most of all, is that he knows that you're worth the risk."

"So what does he plan to do about it?"

"Start small. He invited you this weekend didn't he?"

"Probably because he knows that I can deal with his father and mother."

"Blythe and John aren't that bad. You just have to know how to deal with them."

"Right. Anything else I need to know about him?"

"He admires you. Did you know that he originally wanted to go into pediatrics?"

"House?! You're kidding."

"Nope. He realized in med school that kids don't lie. They've got an innocence about them, and the fact that they don't really know technical terms, all they have to do is say that 'it hurts in this area', not 'it hurts in the area of my lungs, but I can breathe fine, so could it be this or that…'. Kids have no reason to lie, and they're really easy to scare, so if you tell them that they're going to go to sleep and never again wake up and be able to play with their favorite toy, then they'll open up to you immediately."

"Please don't tell me that House used that tactic."

"Actually, yeah, he did."

"Oh god, I can only imagine the lawsuits."

"But the human body is a puzzle. During gross anatomy, he found out that the cadaver that he got had an unknown cause of death, so when they were done with it in class, he snuck into the lab at night and performed an autopsy."

"Don't tell me that he figured out what killed the man."

"Woman. And yeah, he did. She had a miscarriage, five years prior. The fetus was never removed, because she didn't know that she was pregnant. The fetus was about the size of a grain of sand, and the lesion that it caused on the uterine wall was about as long as your fingernail is wide, but that lesion became infected, tore and caused her to bleed out in about four hours. She collapsed at work, and her doctors just thought it was a stroke."

"And House figured out what was wrong, and publicly stated it in front of everyone that doctor worked for."

"Nope, he presented his findings to the dean, and got permission to tell the woman's family. He's not quite as callous as you might think."

"Right, so when he shouts across the ICU the question of whether or not a man is sleeping with his 15-year-old daughter…what's that?"

"Getting to the truth, even if it means hurting someone. You're like that too."

"When have I ever been like that?"

"Cancer woman. She came into the clinic with a cough at the same time that House was treating the guy on death row. You put that woman through countless pointless tests, when all that you had to do was a biopsy."

"I was-" Cameron angrily states before being cut off by Elliot

"You were trying to find some other explanation, some benign explanation. Expecting the worst, but still hoping for the best. Greg respected the hell of you for that. A biopsy is a painful test, we both know that, and you wanted to spare the woman that. Emotional pain hurts more than physical pain, but it's often easier to get over. Physical pain can be covered up by drugs, but then you have to go through the pain of detoxing off that drug."

"Versus years in therapy reliving long buried memories? Yeah, that sounds way easier."

"But you'll feel better in the end."

"Prove it."

"When Greg confronted you after the epidemic in the maternity ward and continued to confront you about your loss. How did you feel when you finally told him about your husband?" Cameron stops abruptly, forcing Elliot to do the same, though she continues talking. "The depression set in all over again, but when you finally told House, it felt good. It felt good to know that someone you saw on a daily basis knew about the secret that you had kept for so long. Letting someone know about those painful secrets, sharing the burden, it helps you to heal."

"What's the point?" Cameron resumes jogging.

"I thought we just established the point."

"No to the story of the clinic woman with cancer."

"You two are more perfect for each other than Greg and Stacy were. He might think that you only like damaged men, but the thing is, you're just compassionate enough to allow people to lean on you through their damage. You take on some of their burden so they don't feel quite so alone. Greg is damaged, yes, but so are you. Your damage just kind of balances his out. Wilson once said that you might be attracted to him because he's damaged and you want to fix him, but at the same time, he might be just damaged enough to fix you while you fix him."

The two women run in total silence for a moment, and start to slow down when they see the statue that they started out at. Cameron stops and undoes the key from her shoe, while Elliot pulls a link chain out from under her sports top and pulls a key off it. The two women head towards their respective cars, and discover that Cameron parked her car right next to Elliot's SUV.

"One more thing, Cameron," Elliot stops her. "Greg, he's smart, I guess you could call him attractive, he is my uncle after all, so…" she lets the statement trail off before continuing. "He can be funny, really funny, not sarcastic, and he can be charming. You might not think so, recalling your date from hell, but he can. But he's an ass, and he always will be. But he's two different people around work and around those he cares about. As long as you don't think that you can change the person you've known for three years, you'll be alright." With that, she gives Cameron a small smile and drives off. Leaving Cameron to ponder what she's been told.


	11. Chapter 11

Sorry folks, I meant to get this up Saturday, but things with school are crazy (and I'm not even enrolled, just trying to get back in...eeek!) Anyways, there's nothing here about House facing Cameron with her new knowledge, but don't worry, she will... any ways, enjoy!

* * *

Cameron walks into the conference room Friday morning at her usual time and hangs her dress for the night behind her desk and putting the bag with her shoes and make-up under it. She turns her computer on and starts the coffee while it's booting up. As she's finishing up her last email, Elliot comes in and takes a seat across the desk, after moving a chair from the table. She clasps her hands together and leans on the desk, staring at Cameron, waiting for her to speak first.

"Coffee's done if you wanted to take a cup back up to Cardiology with you." Cameron breaks the silence, not taking her eyes away from the screen.

"It's one thing to use House's mug around this office, but I think he might get a little upset if I took it back up to Cardiology with me." Elliot's innocent comment has the desired effect on Cameron as the younger doctor notices the immunologist struggle to contain her laughter. Finally, she looks up at Elliot with a smile on her face.

"Point taken. What's up?"

"I wanted to make sure that you were okay after last night. You strike me as the type to lie awake over thinking things. Can you prove me wrong?"

"No." Cameron leans back in her chair. "I didn't sleep a wink last night."

"Think you'll be able to make it through tonight?"

"It's a rehearsal dinner…how stressful can it be?"

"You know those really cliché lines like 'How bad can it be?' or, 'How hard can taking care of 5 10-year-olds be?' and it winds up being a nightmare?"

"Yeah…"

"You just made the jinxing cliché for tonight." Elliot gets up and returns the chair to the table before withdrawing a coffee mug from her pocket and pouring herself a cup. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone it was you. Everyone will think it was Greg anyways." Elliot throws out the last comment while she's halfway out the door. As soon as she's out of sight, Chase comes in.

"Morning."

"Morning, Chase." Cameron returns her gaze to her computer, hoping that he won't continue any conversation. Hopes dashed seconds later.

"I tried calling you last night. Where were you?"

"I went for a run with Elliot after work. I was so tired after that I just collapsed and was dead to the world until this morning."

"Oh. Are you up for anything tonight?"

"Sorry. I've got plans." Cameron takes a deep breath to prepare herself for what she's about to say. "Listen, Chase…" She meets his gaze. Fortunately for him, he recognizes the tone and does the dirty work for her.

"No strings, remember? It's alright."

"Friends?" Cameron tentatively throws out.

"Always." Chase gives her a grin. He takes a seat and pulls out a book of crossword puzzles. "So, what are your plans for tonight?" He fills in a word.

"Um, Elliot, asked me to be a date for one of the wedding party attendants at the rehearsal dinner tonight."

"Reed is getting married?" Chase looks up shocked.

"No, her younger sister, Claire, is. I guess one guy RSVP'ed for two, but his date dumped him or something." Cameron quickly returns her gaze to her computer in the hopes that Chase won't be able to tell that she's lying. He returns to his puzzle, oblivious as always.

"Oh, well, I hope that you have fun."

"What about you? Any plans for this weekend?"

"Cuddy told me yesterday that I've got a ton of vacation time built up, she's offered me the chance to take it."

"Are you going to?" Chase holds up a plane ticket.

"Flight leaves for Australia at 9PM, Cuddy's already approved it."

"Great, I still wouldn't tell House, though."

"You actually think I would? Cuddy is going to tell him Monday morning."

The two share a laugh which they quickly silence as Foreman enters.

"Morning." The neurologist greets the two before grabbing a cup of coffee and sitting down, opening a medical journal to read. Chase continues with his puzzle, and Cameron moves on to opening House's mail. She reads one of the requests out loud, just for kicks.

"Dear, Dr. House, Columbia Medical school kindly requests that you hold a one day intensive for Diagnostics…"

"NOPE!" the two male doctors simultaneously respond. Foreman chooses to continue

"Dear Columbia Medical School, Here at Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, I, Dr. House, am too busy terrorizing my Diagnostic fellows, who actually have a _potential_ future in Diagnostic medicine to take even one hour off to attempt to teach others. I kindly tell you to take your request and-"

"Hold on," Cameron interrupts him, "I lost you after 'terrorizing my Diagnostic fellows'..."

Foreman and Chase look up at her, shocked that she would actually send a reply like that. Cameron stares back at them blankly before breaking out into a smile, reassuring them that she wouldn't. The three share a chuckle, before returning to their own activities silently.

* * *

Later that day, House is leaning against the wall outside the ladies locker room when Foreman and Chase walk by. The two men absently say goodnight to their boss before stopping a few feet past him and slowly backing up. Shocked, they look House up and down, taking in his tailored suit and neatly done tie before returning to his face. House allows them stare for a moment before replying.

"I know I'm good looking, boys, but you really aren't my type, so skedaddle." House attempts to wave them off with the flick of his hand, which doesn't work.

"I've seen you in fancy clothes House, but I honestly thought that Cuddy had to tie you down and beat you in order to get you to wear them." Chase dumbly speaks.

"What makes you think that she doesn't?" The two stare at him, dumbfounded expressions on their faces, which quickly accelerate to include slack jaws when they see the door open behind them and Elliot steps out. House turns to see what the big deal is and quickly takes in the dress that she's wearing. It's simple form-fitting, navy blue with spaghetti straps. The younger doctors look her up and down, taking in her upswept hair - entirely off her back, with loose tendrils framing her face and hanging out from the back - to the knee length skirt that is slightly longer due to the extra layer of slightly see through chiffon that goes a few inches past the satin under layer, to the black high heeled sandals she's struggling to put on as she hops out the door. She grabs House's arm to steady herself before standing up straight and adjusting the straps of her dress before finally noticing the Chase and Foreman staring at her.

"When did you become a girl?" Chase questions the young woman, still staring dumbly.

"At ease, men. I'm a married woman." The men don't change their expressions at all. Eventually Elliot leans forward and whispers something in Chase's ear, The Aussie intensivist immediately gets a worried expression on his face, and grabs Foreman's jacket sleeve, dragging him away to the elevator. Once the doors have safely shut behind them, House turns to his niece with a stunned expression.

"What's your secret?"

"Sorry, I never reveal my tricks." House is prevented from replying as the locker room door swings open once again. He turns to give Cameron some sarcastic reply about being ready before her, but the words get stuck in his throat as the scent of lavender fills his nose and he takes in the sight before him…

* * *

Okay, PLEASE don't hate me!!! I know what Cameron will look like, but my brain isn't firing on enough synapses right now to transform the thought into words, and I really wanted to get an update in (I used up all that energy on Elliot's description). Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up by Tuesday. But seeing as it's currently almost 0100, and I have to be at work in 6 hours, I'm just going to post and go to bed. I hate to use blackmail...but more reviews equal faster fingers on the keyboard.


	12. Chapter 12

Starting from the ground up, House begins the slow journey of admiring Cameron's choice of wardrobe for the night. Her feet are adorned with a pair of cream colored sandals with a strap that ties just above her ankles. _Move on to the legs…_ House thinks to himself, disappointed when he sees that they begin to be covered about halfway up to her knees. He quickly moves up the dress taking note of the color and pattern - cream colored under layer, with a sheer layer over top that has very pale colored roses printed on it. The top of the dress starts a couple of inches below her collarbone, allowing House just enough glimpse of flesh to feel a bit warmer. Her neck is adorned by a length of ribbon that is a creamy pink color with no added decoration, and her hair flows loosely over her shoulders, the top half pulled up into a loose bun, with the bottom half partly curled.

House takes a few deep breath, swallowing several times in an attempt to clear his throat and calm his racing heart.

"Wow." He finally manages to get out.

Cameron stands by patiently with a clear smirk on her face. "That's it? That's the best that you've got? Man," she turns to Elliot, "major disappointment." She further stumps House by reaching up to unnecessarily straighten his tie. "It's crooked."

"Must shoot Wilson. He did it for me. Something about silk ties being harder to tie correctly."

"Right. And how stumped was he when you asked him to tie a silk tie?"

"Very. The last time that he saw me in a tie - not including any hospital benefit - was-" House abruptly stops when he realizes that the last time that he was seen in a tie was on his date with Cameron. "Let's go. You're already going to turn heads, we don't want to make it worse by showing up late." He offers his left arm to Cameron, ignoring Elliot. The younger doctor merely smiles indulgently and follows her uncle and Cameron to the elevator, thinking back to the time in the locker room.

* * *

"_Are you just about ready, Cameron?" Elliot calls to the other doctor while putting the finishing touches on her make-up. She turns when she hears the footsteps behind her, mouth dropping open as she takes in how the immunologist looks. "You do know that it's considered bad form to look better than the bride, right?"_

"_You really think so?" Cameron nervously smoothes her hands over the front of the dress. _

"_Doesn't matter if I think so or not…I guarantee you that Greg will make some comment of the sort."_

_Cameron blushes as she bends down to pick up and put on her shoes. "Thanks, but despite what you said last night, I still don't think that House would feel that way."_

"_Twenty bucks says that he will. Cameron," Elliot sits down beside her, "remember what I said…Greg knows that you're worth it, but he's a man of science, not faith. You need to prove it to him that any thing between to two of you _will_ be worth it."_

"_You are so not what I first thought that you'd be like."_

"_You mean from the day you called me in at five AM?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_Yeah, well, remember…I only had about two hours of sleep that night. And I knew that I'd be getting crap from Greg. I wasn't in the best of moods."_

"_Right. Well, we'd better get going. I guarantee you that House will be making some sort of crack about him being ready before us." The two women share a laugh that is silenced when they hear Foreman and Chase's voices outside the door. Elliot knows that Cameron didn't tell Chase who she was going to the dinner with, so she moves to go first._

"_Give me five minutes." She grabs her shoes on the way out, but stops at the door, turning with a grin on her face. "Ready to WOW him?"_

_

* * *

_

Exiting the hospital, House leads Cameron to his Vette, while Elliot heads into the parking garage, calling back to them

"I have to pick up Jake, I'll see you guys at the house." The two older doctors don't seem to pay much attention to her as House opens the passenger door to his car to allow Cameron to get in. Once she's settled and House has gotten in, she turns to House with a question.

"Elliot said she'd meet us at the house, not church."

"Yup." House starts the car and pulls out of the parking lot into traffic before continuing. "Claire and Chase are getting married at his parents' house."

"Oh. Nice place?"

"It's been featured in more than a few home decorating magazines, and it sits on close to six acres of land, so his parents just set up a bunch of tents and it's going to be an outdoor wedding."

"And what if it-"

"_DON'T _say it, Cameron. Sheesh, do you want to be responsible for ruining the entire wedding?"

"Of course not…that's your job." House looks over at her and the two share a smile. Cameron's only grows wider as she realizes that his is a true smile, one that she's never seen before. They are startled out of the moment by a horn sounding behind them. Greg looks back and up to see that the light they were sitting at has turned green. They ride in silence for a moment before Cameron speaks up again. "Who's Jake? Elliot said that she had to pick him up."

"Her brother. He's a senior at Princeton."

"Oh. How big is Elliot's family?"

"Claire, Jake and two other younger brothers, Patrick and Matthew, they're 15."

"How many people from the military will be there?"

"Tonight? Groom, mother and father of the groom, three sisters, four brothers of the groom, best man, three groomsmen, and two bridesmaids…so that would make…16."

"And what about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow? I'd say that 16 _won't_ be in uniform. Think you'll be able to handle it?"

"I can deal with you, can't I?"

"Good to know that you think so, because here we are." Cameron hadn't noticed that they had pulled up to a house just outside of Princeton - or that the city skyline was still visible just behind the trees.

"My God." Cameron gets out of the car and slowly does a 360, taking in everything around her. The house that they pulled up in front of was a large two-story, modern style, brick home, and at least two acres of land was neatly cut behind the house, the rest of the land was covered in trees and woods.

They slowly make their way around the dozen cars that are already parked in front of the house and up the front steps, House knocking on the door while Cameron continues to take in every detail of the place. A young man in Marine blue dress Charlie's answers the door and warmly greets House, though there is still a measure of regard in his voice - as if he's been told that he can act natural, but he still knows that House's father is a Colonel.

"Dr. House, it's good to see you again." the young man steps aside and allows the couple to enter. He takes Cameron's wrap and purse, placing them in the closet just next to the front door. "And you would be, Allison, correct?"

"Yes. Allison Cameron," she offers her hand to greet the man, "Nice to meet you Captain Marson."

The young man doesn't hide his shock at Cameron's statement, merely holds onto her hand a bit longer than House is comfortable with. "Care to explain how you managed to land a psychic, House?"

"Not psychic," Cameron answers for him, "Just common sense. You've got a set of double silver bars on your collar - denoting rank - and the name tag on your right breast tells me your name. The statement 'Muscles Are Required, Intelligence Not Essential' must be true in your case, Captain." Cameron wriggles her hand out of his and wraps her arm back around House's, who isn't bothering to hide his grin at the expression on Marson's face.

"Michael is fine, Ms Cameron."

"Allison." Before more can be said, the doorbell sounds again and House pulls Cameron further into the house while Michael answers the door.

"That was brilliant." House whispers in her ear. Cameron turns to face him with a sweet, innocent, smile on her face…just as they enter the living room. Giving everyone there whatever impression they want to. Though the smiles tell what everyone is thinking.

_Greg has FINALLY found someone!!!_

They look into the room and immediately straighten up, everyone in the room is already smiling at the two people behind the pair of doctors. They turn to see Elliot being escorted in by a young man with typical All-American Boy looks - blonde hair, blue eyes, linebacker build, the works. Elliot smiles indulgently at her uncle and coworker, having seen their interaction, though not knowing what it was about.

"I see that everyone has had the chance to meet your girlfriend, Greg." House and Cameron both shoot death glares at Elliot, which she merely smiles innocently in response to and moves around them to hug her younger sister, who shares similar looks to her brother - minus the linebacker build - before moving on to the groom, while House introduces Cameron to everyone. Cameron and Elliot both notice that he doesn't bother to negate the 'girlfriend' comment.

* * *

Several hours later, everyone is sitting around the living room with glasses of wine relaxing. The rehearsal went off without a hitch, but Claire is still freaking out because the alter hasn't arrived yet. Everyone has attempted to relax her by telling various stories. Most were new to Cameron, based on the bride and groom's childhood (they grew up two houses down from each other) or how Claire reacted when he chose the Marines instead of the Navy after graduation (he attended the Naval Academy). Finally the talk shifted over to the new 'couple' at the party. The groom was the one that started it, having never heard much about his fiancée's uncle. 

"What about the two of you?" Chase directs at House and Cameron "How did the two of you, meet?"

"At work." Cameron simply states, not yet wanting to reveal in front of House's entire family that she knows how he truly feels about her.

"Care to elaborate?" One of the groomsmen requests.

"There's nothing to elaborate on. I work at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. That's where we met."

"Have you two ever worked on any interesting cases? I've heard enough about Greg to know that he gets some fun ones."

"How bout this…" Cameron starts off with a humorous tone, "Greg - in true 'House' fashion - in his attempt to avoid work, hides out in the OB lounge watching TV. Two doctors come in discussing one case, and Greg here immediately takes off, remembering something he heard about another baby. In his attempt to avoid work, he stumbles on an epidemic in the Maternity ward. Echovirus 11, it's a virus that lodges in the intestinal tract. In infants it's deadly."

"And why does that case stick out in you mind?" The groom's mother questions Cameron.

"That case made me realize just how much I hated Greg." Everyone looks stunned. Elliot - who knows why Cameron hated House after that case - speaks up next.

"So what case made you realize that you loved him?"

"It was recently. We had a case that just reminded me why I hated him and at the same time, made me realize that everything that I had been hating him for, was precisely why I loved him so much."

"And it's now 2355." The best man interrupts, standing, while pulling Chase to his feet. The two men pause just long enough for Chase to give Claire a brief kiss before he is once again dragged away. The rest of the groomsmen stand and follow, throwing 'good-nights' at everyone. Once they're out, Elliot stands and drags Claire to her feet as well, turning to address the rest of the group.

"We'd better get to sleep as well. See everyone tomorrow."

* * *

As House and Cameron exit the front door, Cameron turns to House, "What was that about?" 

"It's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding."

"Isn't the ceremony at 3 PM?"

"Yup, which means that they have to stay away from each other for the next 15 hours."

"How long do you think it will be before they break down and try to call each other?"

"I'll be generous and say five hours. Michael has already confiscated Chase's cell-phone."

Cameron laughs a bit before raising her hand to her mouth to cover a yawn. She goes to enter the car, when she notices something in the backyard that wasn't there when the rehearsal ended four hours ago.

"What's that?" She asks House. He follows her gaze, and then her, as she heads toward the structure in front of the chairs set up for the ceremony.

"This would be the altar, it was delivered about three hours ago."

"Oh." Cameron falls silent as she steps up under it, going to examine the carvings on the poles. She reaches out a single finger and traces along the roses carved into wood, allowing her finger to dip into a depression in the center of one. She notices that many of the roses have similar depressions in their centers.

"Roses are Claire's favorite. They live in Northern California, and there are a lot of hummingbirds there. Those depressions collect water in the rain and become little watering holes for them."

"This is incredible." Cameron finally turns to face House, going to stand in front of him.

"So," House breaks the silence. "What case was it that made you realize that you loved me?"

"I have a confession," Cameron looks down in embarrassment, "I couldn't think of one… because I realized…I realized recently that I never really stopped loving you. I've been telling myself for the past two years that I was over you, but I never was." She turns back and begins tracing the outline of the roses again before continuing. "Elliot told me-" Cameron stops before trying again. "I haven't worn any perfume with a lavender scent in six years. Why did you remember the scent of lavender when I left your office the day of my interview?"

"I don't know. You were wearing a light purple tank top that day under your blazer. I guess I just associated a lavender scent with the color of that top. What else did Elliot tell you?"

"Why did you drop Pediatrics?"

"You often have to visit kids in order to diagnose them. When you visit patients, you get attached, when you get attached, it hurts that much more when they…" House trails off, leaving Cameron to fill in the blanks. She returns to him, looking into his eyes.

"Your secret is safe with me." She reaches down and takes his hand in hers. House jumps slightly when he feels the current rush between them, but overcomes it and intertwines his fingers with hers. "It's worth the risk, Greg. Anything between us… it's worth the risk. You just have to take the chance."

House slowly releases his fingers from hers and reaches up to cup her face in his palm. "Promise?" His voice is barely above a whisper.

"Promise." When she sees his face slowly come closer to hers, she stretches up to meet him halfway. Their lips meet in an oh-so tender moment, before House reluctantly pulls away.

"Come on," he sighs regretfully. "We have to be back here in 7 hours, and though I doubt you would ever need it, I definitely need my beauty sleep."

Cameron smiles to herself as she tucks herself under his arm as they walk back to his car, unaware that they were watched the whole time.

From the kitchen window, Elliot and Jack release the curtains and step back, smiling to each other before they head upstairs to their own bedrooms.

* * *

Here it is!! Finally! This is actually how my day off from work was spent. But judging from the reviews and requests I got, hopefully y'all will agree that is was worth it. I was recently made aware of some mistakes in a previous chapter: CH-46 is actually a transport chopper, not a Cobra attack chopper (that's an AH-1), but the story will be altered to say that it's still a CH-46 that Elliot's husband flies. The case where Cameron says that she realized she was in love with Greg...I couldn't think of one, so that's how I came with that. If anyone thinks that I should elaborate on that to House's family coming up, then I'll need some help: What's a good episode where Cameron realizes that she's still in love with House (let's say up to and including Insensitive). The dress Cameron wears...it's based on one of mine. I used it in this story because it's the one that I was wearing on my fiance and mine's first date...he definatly loved it.(hehehe). Anyways...I think there will only be one or two more chapters to this story, but don't worry, there will be a sequel. I have to follow through on the Karaoke fundraiser, don't I?

Oh yeah, Muscles Are Required, Intelligence Not Essential...if you take the first letter of each word, it spells out MARINE. Someone from the Army told me that one, so I thought it would be appropriate coming from Cameron.

And the house is real, it's based off of my dad's cousins' home and they DO live outside of Princeton, and it really was featured in a home decorating magazine.

Let me know what y'all think!!!


	13. Chapter 13

Cameron struggles to open her eyes the following morning, wondering what woke her. Just as her eyes begin to shut, the sound of wood hitting wood reaches her ears once again. Reaching for her alarm clock, she struggles to make out the red numbers: 7:15. _Who on God's green Earth would be waking me at this hour?_ Thinking that it might be a neighbor with an emergency, she drags herself out of bed, pulling her robe around her body while walking through her apartment. She looks through the peephole and stops upon seeing who's on the other side. Opening the door, she prepares a threat to the man who disturbed her slumber.

"You _do_ know what time it is, right?" The silent threat is obvious in her tone, which House ignores, holding up a cup of coffee.

"Triple shot, thought you might need it." Cameron makes no move to accept the cup of coffee, just staring at her boss like you would a crazy person.

"House, it's not even 7:30. What are you doing here? The wedding isn't for another 7 hours."

"True, but Chase's mom has hired a ton of stylists and such to beautify the wedding party - not that you need it - and we were told to be there."

"You mean that you were told to be there."

"Yes, and you were invited to join me." Continuing to stare at him for a moment, Cameron eventually steps aside, beckoning him in while taking the coffee from him. "You aren't expected to get dressed or anything, I'm sure that the other women are probably wearing less than you are, so just grab your dress and let's get going." House informs her while openly staring at Cameron's figure in her blue flannel bottoms and matching tank top. "Though I must admit, I figured you for more of a pink pajamas person. Huh-" he thinks for a moment, "Try saying that five times fast."

"Not without a few more cups of coffee in me." Cameron throws a smile in his direction, despite her anger at being woken up so early. "Make yourself comfortable, I'll be right back."

When she disappears into her bedroom, he begins to walk around her apartment, taking everything in. He stops at one of her bookshelves to look at all the photos. He stops at one of a younger her and a young, dark haired man in Marine dress blues, recognizing the structure in the background as the Naval Academy Chapel. Another photo shows Cameron and the young man, this time joined by a brunette, the two others dressed in utilities, standing on an airfield. He quickly looks over some more of the photos and finds that many of them include Cameron and that same man and woman, finally coming on one of the three of them standing on a beach with a younger man and woman. Picking this photo up, House recognizes one of the monuments of Pearl Harbor in the background. He is eventually distracted by the site of Cameron in a bikini top and sarong in said photo, not noticing (or caring) that the other four people are also casually dressed in beach clothes. At the sound of Cameron's voice behind him, he turns, still holding on to that photo.

"Ready to go?" Cameron drapes a garment bag across the back of her couch, walking up to him. She takes the photo from his hands and replaces it on the bookshelf. House notices that she's taken his advice and just thrown a light zipper sweatshirt over her tank top and donned a pair of flip-flops. Motioning to the picture, House questions,

"Who are they?"

"My siblings and I, three years ago."

"You have two siblings in the military?"

"Yeah. Alex," she motions to the Marine, "couldn't get leave that year to come home, so we went to visit him… not that it took much persuasion."

"Was he stationed at Pearl Harbor?"

"Still is. He's got another two years on that billet. Who knows where he'll go after that."

"What about your sister?" House motions the woman in the photo of three at the airfield.

"She's a trauma surgeon in the Navy. Stationed on the Kitty Hawk."

"And then there's you."

"And then there's me," Cameron echos, not continuing the thought House was getting to. "What time are we supposed to be there?"

"Eight." House stares at her after tearing his eyes away from the photo of the five siblings at Pearl Harbor, "We've got time." House's voice drops to a whisper as he brings his hand up to cup her cheek. Cameron closes her eyes and leans into his touch. Eventually, she comes to her senses a bit and pulls away.

"There are a few things that we need to talk about." She takes his and in hers, dropping it from her face, but never letting go. "You called me Allison last night."

"You called me Greg."

"You didn't deny the girlfriend comment that Elliot made."

"I didn't want to." House's normal confident tone was lacking in those four words, allowing Cameron to know just how difficult it was for him to voice them out loud.

"So are we going to keep up the charade today?"

"It never was a charade for me, Allison."

Cameron smiles sweetly before glancing down at her watch. "We'd better get going," she states with a regretful tone in her voice. She leads him to the couch, handing him a small duffle bag with shoes and such, while she retrieves the garment bag with her gown, forcing her to let go of his hand. "So you up for introducing me as your girlfriend to your parents?"

"There was never a doubt in my mind as to whether or not I was going to."

"Good." She turns to him with a smile, which he warmly returns.

* * *

"Good morning everyone." Cameron pokes her head into the bride's room and is immediately greeted by Elliot.

"Hey, come on in. You remember everyone from last night, and you've met Greg's mom, right?" She motions to House's mom, sitting in the corner.

"Mrs. House, it's good to see you again."

"You're the doctor that works with my son…Allison, right?"

"Yes, ma'am. Allison Cameron."

"What are you doing here? Did Greg drag you so he wouldn't have to deal with everyone setting him up with every available female in attendance today?"

"Actually, Grams, Allison is Greg's girlfriend."

"In the sense of 'just for the weekend'?"

"No, in the 'girlfriend' sense. We're still new to the couple label, so I guess this weekend would be our first public appearance as such."

"Glad to hear it. James told me about what you did when John and I visited last year. I wondered then what your relationship to Greg was at that time."

"At that time, we were in a boss and subordinate relationship. Anything more would have been inappropriate."

"And now it's not?"

"Now we feel we could handle it, plus my Fellowship with your son is almost up, so I'll be transferring to the Immunology department, and it would no longer be a problem." Any further questioning is cut of by a whining voice coming from the area of the bathroom.

"Mommy! I don't want to wear tights! Don't make me!" A young girl that doesn't look to be more than five years old comes out of the bathroom, running from the woman that Allison recognizes to be the groom's mother. The young girl immediately takes cover behind the first pair of legs that she comes to - which happen to be Cameron's. Elliot steps up to the woman

"Thank you, Mrs. Vigiani. I think I can handle my daughter from here." Elliot takes the tights from the woman and returns them to a duffel bag, retrieving a pair of lacey socks instead.

Cameron looks down and is met by a pair of bright green eyes, attached to a face with the most angelic smile directed at her. Cameron kneels down to be level with the young girl and returns the smile.

"Hi. Who are you?"

"Mackenzie Reed. That's my mom." She points up to Elliot.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mackenzie." Cameron sticks out her hand, introducing herself. "I'm Allison Cameron, but you can call me Allison."

Mackenzie slips her small hand into Cameron's and gently pumps it. "Are you Uncle Greg's girlfriend? Cause mom said his girlfriend's name was Allison."

"Yes, I am."

"Nice to meet you. Grams said that you were too pretty for Uncle Greg…she was right." Mackenzie states matter of factly before Elliot rushes forward to stop her daughter from saying anything else.

"Kenzie…" Elliot warns her daughter, "Do you remember what I said for you to do today?"

Mackenzie screws up her face trying to remember what she was told to do, and finally starts listing her instructions, "I'm supposed to behave and not run around and be loud... and do whatever you, Aunt Claire, Grams, or any other adult say. I'm not to embarrass any of the guests with any knowledge that I might over hear about them from other guests, or repeat such knowledge to their faces. And any embarrassing comment that _does_ come from my mouth, _must_ be directed at Uncle Greg about his new girlfriend and only be the words that you specify that I'm allowed to say." She finishes off that spiel and takes a deep breath, "Oh yeah, and I'm not to make any faces in any of the photos, punch the ring bearer or any other of the kids or adults here and to basically just smile and look pretty until I can get out of the hideous dress that I have to wear today." Mackenzie gives her mother an angelic smile, proud that she remembered what her mother told her to say - with a few of her own additions. Elliot merely smiles and pushes her in the direction of the bathroom

"Good girl, now go finish cleaning up." Mackenzie happily skips off into the bathroom and eventually running water is heard. Cameron remains squatting where she is with a shocked expression on her face, standing when she feels a hand on her shoulder.

"I underestimated that angelic face."

"Most people usually do." Claire speaks up from where she's getting a manicure.

"I'd ask how old she is-"

"Five," Elliot interrupts.

"Going on 40?" Cameron questions.

"She was born 40." Elliot smiles indulgently at her. "She's been making comments like that since before she even knew what the words meant, and she's been repeating everything that everyone says since she could talk."

"How much time has she spent around Greg?" Cameron asks this as if she knows that the answer will be 'tons', explaining everything about the five-year-old's behavior.

"Practically none. She's comes by her sarcasm honestly."

Cameron is prevented form commenting by a knock on the door. Seconds later it cracks open and House pokes his head in, eyes closed.

"Are you ladies decent?"

"All of us except Allison." Elliot immediately throws back at him, causing his eyes to fly open, searching out Cameron, disappointment clearly showing on his face when he sees that she's still clothed as she was when he showed her in the direction of the bride's room 15 minutes earlier. The women don't bother holding in any laughter towards his gullibility.

"Well, I need to borrow my girlfriend if that's okay." House beckons for her to come out into the hall, which she quickly does.

"What's up?"

"I need you to do something." House digs into his pocket for something.

"What?" She holds out her hand for what House retrieved from his pocket, staring down at his car keys. "What do you need?"

"I need you to go to the hospital and get a few banana bags."

"The guys decided to have a second bachelor party last night?" Cameron asks, laughter obvious in her voice and her eyes.

"Yeah. Chase isn't too bad, but he definitely needs one. And since you can park and _run_ in and out for them…can you go get them?"

"You're trusting me with your Vette?" The shock is evident in her voice.

"Why not? I trust you with my life." Cameron is shocked by his admission. She's liking the new Greg House.

"How many do you need?"

"Nine…and the tubing and needles."

"Okay. I'll be back in a bit." She turns to the room she just left to get her purse, but is stopped by House's hand on her arm. The question is obvious in her eyes, and she doesn't hide her shock when he pounds loudly on the door once, opening it to see Elliot and Jack lying on the floor, rubbing the sides of their faces. Cameron realizes now that they were listening in like a couple of teenagers spying on their parents. She merely shakes her head and smiles, retrieving her purse and leaving again, throwing the comment that she'll be back in a bit to the women in the room. House follows her down the stairs and out of the house, heading in the direction of an enclosed tent at the edge of the rest.

* * *

Cameron parks in House's handicapped parking space, feeling only slightly guilty, before getting out and running up to the hospital, entering through the clinic. Once inside, she's stopped by Cuddy, who is dressed casually.

"Dr. Cameron? What are you doing here?"

"Running an errand for Dr. Reed." The half lie easily slips from her.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, apparently some of the guys decided to have a second bachelor party last night, and the majority of the male half of the wedding party are nursing hangovers, so I was sent here to retrieve some banana bags for them."

"Dr. Reed is getting married?"

"No, her younger sister is."

"And why are you involved in it?"

"One guy RSVP'ed for two and he didn't have a date, I was recruited to play his girlfriend for the weekend."

"Oh, sorry." The pity is obvious in Cuddy's voice.

"Not a problem. The guy isn't all that bad actually."

"And it's not like you'll ever see him again after all this, right?"

Cameron doesn't answer, just nods her head quickly before motioning in a random direction, "So can I…"

"Right, go ahead."

"I'll make sure that House is billed for the supplies." Cameron jokes with her boss.

"Right. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, Cameron."

"You too." Cameron runs down the hall toward a supply closet while Cuddy heads back into her office, glancing over her shoulder once at the younger doctor.

* * *

There's no door for Cameron to knock on, so she just pushes aside the canvas of the tent a bit and shouts in to all the men.

"Is everyone decent?"

"Yes, ma'am." A young voice sounds from inside, prompting Cameron to enter. She still keeps her eyes averted toward the ground until she is sure that all the men are in fact, decently dressed. House approaches her and takes the bag of supplies from her. She takes it back from him and heads over to where most of the men are lying down with cold cloths across their foreheads and eyes.

"Let me help you out, Greg." She kneel in front of one of the men and takes his arm, holding it straight out so that she can find a vein in his elbow. She quickly locates it and tapes the needle down, attaching the bag and placing it on the table that the man is lying next to. She goes down the line, repeating the process for each of the men, House following her, handing her supplies as she needs them.

"Okay, I think that's it." Cameron stands, removing her gloves, looking down the line at the nine men that she just administered banana bags to before turning to Greg. "Can you handle removing them?"

"I could have handled administering them if you hadn't insisted on helping." He responds with his usual sarcasm.

"Deal with it, you've got a take charge woman in your life." At this comment, half the men lying down perk up and remove their cold cloths and peek out at the couple.

"Damn, Greg, I like her more and more." One of the men comments, causing Cameron to turn crimson and duck her head in embarrassment.

"Hey, can someone give me a hand here?" A young man approaches with his dress blue coat on, though unbuttoned. He's trying to get his ribbons and shooting badges on straight and appropriate. Cameron quickly steps up, buttoning up a couple buttons in the middle before removing the shooting badges and adjusting one side of the ribbon before mentally calculating 1/8 inch distance below the bottom ribbon and centering the rifle badge on the proper side. She quickly secures it and does the same with the pistol badge. She takes a half step back and gives a quick glance over the rest of it, quickly loosening and straightening one of the EGAs on his collar before patting him on the shoulder.

"All done." The young man stares at her for a moment before turning to House.

"She's smart, beautiful and knows the regulations for our uniforms. If you ever fuck this relationship up, Greg, I won't hesitate to move in on her." Cameron smiles and laughs gently before turning back to House, who's standing there with a shocked expression matching the rest of the men in the tent. Eventually House comes to and throws his free arm around Cameron's shoulder.

"Sorry, Danny, but I don't plan on trading her in any time soon." He pulls her tight, not that she needed any prompting in tucking herself into his side.

"Alright, gentleman." Cameron extracts herself from House's side and surveys the room, taking note of the big screen TV and the stereo system next to the tables with food on them. "Greg knows the deal, try to eat something after that banana bag, and take some aspirin in a bit with it. I'll leave you to your entertainment for now." She stretches up and gives House a quick kiss on the cheek before turning and leaving. Once she's gone, House smacks Danny on the back of the head.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"The thoughts you were having about my girlfriend."

"Can you blame me?!" Danny quickly ducks and gets out of House's reach before he can smack him again.

* * *

In the house, Cameron enters the bride's room and is ushered into a manicure before she can say anything. Elliot takes the seat beside her to talk.

"What was that about?" Cameron looks around for Claire before responding.

"The guys decided to have a second bachelor party last night, at least drinking wise. They needed some banana bags." Cameron whispers to the maid of honor.

"Gotcha. Sorry, about listening in."

"Until we get our feelings out in the open, there's nothing worth listening in on."

"But the conversations where you _do_ get your feelings out in the open should be interesting to listen in on."

The two share a smile before Cameron leans back in the chair, enjoying the manicure while attempting to catch up on some sleep.

* * *

Alright folks, I had planned on this going up two days ago, but there were some minor posting problems (thank Fenris242 for the help in finally getting it up). Part two for the wedding day is almost done, I'm just working out some logistics for the ending, which will probably wind up being a really short epilogue. Anyways, y'all know the deal...read, review...ask questions if there are any...if you spot any mistakes, let me know and I'll do my best to fix them.


	14. Chapter 14

"So, Greg." John House approaches his son while he's reading a medical journal, the others sit around the television with the volume on low, watching a football game. "How long have you and Dr. Cameron been together? Because when we saw you last year, she was just one of your fellows." The others perk up and turn their attention to the two Houses, ignoring the death glare that the younger one sends their way.

"Not long. She thought I was dying and assaulted me in my office during a case a few weeks back." House returns to his reading, leaving the men to wonder if the sarcastic tone the comment was delivered with was done in honesty or to dismiss any further comments.

"So the 'take charge' comment was truthful?" Michael speaks up from his post by the coffee maker.

"Yeah." House scoffs at them. "'Assertive' is definitely a word I'd use to describe her. Now please will you get back to nursing your hangovers in peace." House uses the remote to turn up the volume on the game, just as the TV crowd cheers a good play, causing all the men to wince and bring their hands up to their heads.

"And the fact that she's half your age doesn't bother you?" John House isn't deterred from interrogating his son.

"No. Have you ever been with a woman half your age? Their energy is amazing." House attempts to deter his father with talk of the his and Allison's sex life, but all he's done is further grab the attention of all the men in the tent. He sighs in exasperation as they all attentively turn towards him, waiting for more details. House merely ignores them and turns on his iPod, turning it up so loud that every other man can hear what is playing.

* * *

Back in the house, The women are questioning Cameron in the same manner "So, Allison," Blythe House speaks up, "How long have you and my son been together?"

Cameron's eyes widen just a bit, trying to think up an answer. Elliot notices and tries to intervene.

"Come on, Grams…this weekend is supposed to be about Claire, don't bug Allison."

"I don't mind," Claire speaks up, unknowingly giving Cameron more time to think up a story. "I'm just as interested as everyone else." She turns toward Cameron expectantly. "Doesn't the fact that he's twice your age bother you?"

"Nope." Cameron responds.

"So when did you become a couple?" Claire repeats the question that Blythe originally posed.

"It was actually recently," Cameron proceeds carefully, measuring every word internally before voicing them. "Greg had a client that had neuro syphilis, and he thought that it was a brain tumor. In an attempt to keep the truth from the guy's wife, Greg put his name on the guy's file for all the tests, but put the results under the guy's name; like they were alias' for the other. While he tried to discourage the team from spending time trying to find some experimental treatment to extend his life, we each went to him to tell him how we felt about him. Foreman told him how much he respected him, Chase started to cry while hugging him, and I…I kissed him. It was actually an attempt to distract him so that I could get a blood sample - because at the time, we hadn't seen any of the scans - and um…" Cameron trails off, attempting to hide a blush. "I wasn't able to get the blood sample, but House did tell me what name the test results were under. It was a little weird for a while, and we both eventually silently agreed to drop it and move on. Next thing I knew, I was being introduced as his girlfriend last night." Cameron finishes her spiel by glaring at Elliot with the last comment, while the younger doctor just continues to smile at her.

"How do you deal with work?" Blythe speaks up.

"We keep it out of the office." Cameron honestly replies. "It's hard to tell if what House is saying is truth or not, so most just assume that what he's saying is not. Plus he's been making a lot of comments recently about my being with Dr. Chase, so I think that kind of takes some focus off of us. I suppose people think that Chase and I would make a better couple."

"I can't really see you and Dr. Chase together," Blythe speaks up, "I understand how others could see you together and as the perfect couple, but-"

"No big deal, he will always be the coworker that I would be least likely to fall in love with."

Any further comment is interrupted by a knock on the door, which is opened without waiting for a reply. All that is originally seen is a large white box, though it is followed by a man and a woman, each carrying a small bag.

"Saved by the dress," Elliot whispers to Cameron as they watch Claire, Jack and some of the other women greet the final three stylists, one of whom opens the large box to reveal the wedding dress.

* * *

"Well, Chase? Are you ready to take the plunge?" House comes up behind the younger man, who is peeking out of the tent at all the guests milling around.

"Yeah, I- uh, yeah, uhuh, um, I think- yes. Yes." Chase turns around to face his bride's uncle, more than slightly nervous.

House watches the young man, amused at his nervousness. "Relax, man. I thought Marines were trained to be fearless."

"Just because we're trained to display confidence, doesn't mean that it always shows when we need it to, Greg."

"Alright, listen to me, because I'm only going to say it once. For some strange reason, Claire - the greatest white dove in human form - chose to fall in love with you, the trained killing machine. Now I know that you are trained to kill with your bare hands, and you know just how to do so 50 different ways, but that will not stop me from beating the crap out of you if you ever hurt her. Yes you can outrun me," House continues on in a quiet tone, reaching out to straighten his uniform and brush some imaginary lint off of various places, "and yes, you can pick me off at 500 yards with a simple sight and a 5mm bullet - and a distance closer to a mile and a half when you've got a sniper rifle with a scope, but all those skills of yours won't do you any good if you ever do anything to harm her physical or emotional well-being. As cheesy as what I'm about to say will sound…you complete her, just as she completes you. And the two of you deserve every happiness and hardship that gets thrown your way. So get out there, and make her a happier woman then she already is."

"Thanks, Greg. You know…you deserve all that too. I've heard stories…from Jack, and from Elliot. Allison is even more your opposite than Claire is mine, but you make her happy, and she seems to make you happy as well."

"As the groom, you're supposed to be on the receiving end of these cheesy pep talks, not on the giving end." House stops him before he can go even farther.

"So does that mean that I should hold off on this talk until your wedding day?" The teasing tone is clear, but the serious look on House's face throws Chase for a loop.

* * *

"Ready for this, babe?" Elliot steps up behind her sister and hands Claire her bouquet. Claire takes a deep breath and looks back at her sister for support. "Go bag your Marine, civvie." The two share a laugh as they remember 15-year-old Claire saying those exact words to Elliot on her wedding day 7 years prior. Claire takes a deep breath and moves to the door.

* * *

Greg meets up with Claire at the door leading from the house to the back yard and begins the trip to the ceremony site.

"Last chance to make a run for it."

"This isn't a Julia Roberts movie, Greg, I'm seeing this wedding through."

"I can torch the alter as a distraction."

"You don't smoke, and there isn't enough lacquer on it."

"I can object."

"Chase hasn't slept with any of the bridesmaids, and I haven't slept with any of his groomsmen."

"What about the fact that he's five years older?"

"Five years does not a May-December relationship make, Greg." She slows them down as they reach the floral alter that is at the back of the chair. She turns to face him. "We're opposites, but he's still the other half of my soul, and I can't see myself ever going back to living without him. We're gonna fight, and I'm gonna want to kill him, and I'm gonna want you and Elliot to drug him at some point just to get him out of my hair for a few hours every few years. But whenever I'm around him, he's the only person that I can see. So, are you gonna give me away, or are you gonna stand here and try and talk me out of it some more?"

"You know his family's Dutch, right?" The two share a laugh before House squares his shoulders and stands as straight as he can before leading her under the arch of roses, up the aisle to her groom.

As they reach the alter, House forces himself to keep his eyes on Chase, finally reaching him, shaking his hand, "Remember what I said," he murmurs softly, so no one else can hear them. Chase nods softly before offering his arm to Claire. House finally turns and comes face to face with Cameron. House doesn't even notice what she's wearing, or how her hair is done, he just focuses on her smile, takes a seat beside her, and clasps his hand in hers for the duration of the ceremony.

* * *

Alright, so this was short, but I dont' really care. I think the next chapter will be the last one for this story...but, never fear! there is still the next story. I'm going to try and wrap up whatever answers I can in the next chapter (I got a lot of requests for what Elliot told Chase to scare him off), and I'm not in the mood to write much of a reception, so it'll be kind of an 'after the reception' kind of setting.

oh yeah, check out my profile over the next couple days, I'm writing and adding to it.


	15. Chapter 15

"And they're off." Elliot closes the front door and flops onto one of the couches sideways, resting her head on the arm rest and letting her feet dangle over the other. She glances over to her uncle and his new girlfriend and laughs at the site.

House is lying sideways with his bad leg stretched out in front of him, the bride's garter donning his left thigh. Cameron is sitting properly with House's right leg across her lap, fingering one of the roses in the bride's bouquet. Jack comes in to the living room and takes a seat on the chair by her daughter.

"So," She starts in a conversational tone, "When's the wedding?"

"You guys planned this, didn't you?" House motions to the garter and bouquet, meeting his sister's eyes, noticing the silent laughter present there.

"We might have mentioned something to Claire-" Jack starts.

"Who, in turn threatened something to Chase." Elliot finishes.

"Something about sleeping on the couch for the duration of the honeymoon if he didn't aim this directly at me?" House finishes. "What did you say to convince Claire?"

"Nothing," Elliot states. "I think she knew that if one of her bridesmaids caught it, she'd be in their wedding party, and since all of them are heartbeats away from walking down the aisle, she didn't want to have to deal with that so soon."

"Hate to break it to you," Cameron speaks up, "But Greg and I are nowhere near the jewelry store, let alone the alter."

The two female House snort softly before simultaneously covering their yawns.

"I guess motherhood really does tire you out," House speaks up, "Cause Allison and I definitely aren't mothers and we're the only two not yawning."

"Funny, Greg." Jack states, "Now shut up or I'm pulling out baby photos of you to show Allison."

House wisely shuts up and glares at his sister, missing the smile and wink that she directs at Allison when he reaches for his drink.

"Speaking of convincing," House replaces his drink on the side table and looks to Elliot, "What did you tell Chase yesterday to get him and Foreman to leave?"

"I told him that if they weren't gone in the next 10 seconds, that I'd tell you that he was cleared for two weeks vacation time."

"So? When is this vacation?"

"Now." Cameron speaks up, "He left for Australia last night."

"What?! When did I approve that?"

"YOU didn't, Cuddy did. The team has been through a lot these past few weeks, Chase was just first in line for a break."

"You've been through a lot!? I've had to work with my niece!"

"You say that like you actually did some work on this case," Elliot replies thoughtfully. "Because if I recall correctly, all that you told us to do was an EKG, blood work, and a shit ton of research. The EKG told us nothing, which lead me to do an echo. Blood work did actually tell us something. And when you told us to do research, I called Mom and got a scan and a diagnosis. Wait, House actually _worked_, is that considered working for him?" All the women laugh at House and the situation he's gotten in.

"And on that note," House downs the last of his drink and gets up, pulling Cameron to her feet. Once she's vertical, he gathers up his cane, gives his sister and niece kisses, and drags Cameron out the door. "See you Monday, Reed."

* * *

"So," House walks Cameron up to her door. "Now that you've met my family…" He lets the statement trail off.

"Is that your attempt at asking when you get to meet my family?"

"Just curious. I heard you talking to some of the guests. Your dad is retired Army, and your mom is a housewife with a nursing degree. Sounds remarkably like my parents, without the nursing degree."

"So how did we turn out completely different despite having parents that are the same?"

"Similar." House corrects her. "But yeah." He leans against the wall by her door while she pulls out her keys.

"I was six, Dad was believed KIA. He was actually a POW. Three weeks later, he was home…by the time he was declared full duty, his current term was up, and mom was pregnant with Adam and Ashley. He decided to retire…not really. He took a job teaching at the helicopter flight school, finished out his twenty…granted he only had two years left, so it wasn't much. I was ten when that happened, so I didn't spend my childhood moving around a lot. That might have helped." She turns to her door, but stops and faces him again. "Do you want to come in?"

House goes through a major internal debate in a matter of seconds before responding, "As much as I want to, I'd better not. Lunch? Tomorrow?"

Cameron smiles sweetly at him. "I'll cook. Noon?"

"Noon." House confirms before leaning down to give her a good night kiss. It's meant to be a quick kiss, but Cameron leans into it, causing House to lean in just a bit more. When he feels her hand on his shoulder, he breaks away. "I'll see you tomorrow." He graces her lips with his own once more before smiling softly at her and leaving. Cameron waits until she sees him get onto the elevator before opening her door behind her entering, a small smile playing on her lips.

* * *

So, not all people do the garter thing, but hopefully everyone knows the story behind the bouquet. Adding to it, whomever catches the garter, is said to be the one marrying the one that caught the bouquet.

And that's it. I'm starting on the second story tomorrow after work. The House family was met in this story, but the Cameron clan will be met in the next one...or at least the siblings will. I haven't found a way to work the parents in. Probably won't, just to let you know.


End file.
